


Black

by Charlotte (Soana)



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Amnesia, Deaf Clint Barton, Gen, How Do I Tag, Human Experimentation, Hydra (Marvel), M/M, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Serious Injuries, Slow Burn, Tags Are Hard, Trust Issues, mentions of torture, there is a dog
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-09
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2019-07-28 14:07:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 30,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16243208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soana/pseuds/Charlotte
Summary: He doesn't know much about the kid. The only reason why he knows his name is because it was sometime pronounced by scientists, mostly when the child was screaming to death and they were trying to calm him... and probably spare their ears. Peter's screams were a piercing sound that could be heard throughout the building, from his cell to Bucky's, and it nearly made Bucky's ears bleed more than once. It was later, when he escaped with the kid, that he learned that it wasn't Peter who could scream like a tortured cat.It was Venom.. . .Steve looks at the screen before him. He blinks a few times, then rubs his eyes and shakes his head, but the face in front of him doesn't change.''Is it really him?'' he whispers, as if talking too loud would make his childhood friend disappear; for good, this time.''My facial recognition software never fails.'' Tony answers. ''This man is indeed James Barnes, and he destroyed half of Paris.''. . .Or the one in which Bucky escaped HYDRA by himself and took a kid on his way out, and Steve finds them.





	1. ''sizzling like a glitching screen''

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> English is not my native language, so please excuse the few mistakes you may encounter during your reading. I frequently re-read the already posted chapters and catch the last mistakes there. If something isn't right, please, don't be afraid to inform me. I would rather it being pointed out and corrected than staying forever forgotten. I don't want to make your eyes bleed :')
> 
> Enjoy!

In the beginning, it was difficult.

Running from a world-wide organization that is trying to fuck with your DNA?

Not easy.

But doing that with a child?

Hard as fuck.

And the child was sharing his body with some black slime-y thing that, somehow, was conscious and wanted to kill everything in its path?

Nearly impossible.

But, hey, he managed. Well, they are both still alive, and they haven't heard from HYDRA in a while, so... Yeah, they manage.

But it's difficult.

He doesn't know much about the kid. The only reason why he knows his name is because it was sometime pronounced by scientists, mostly when the child was screaming to death and they were trying to calm him... and probably spare their ears. Peter's screams were a piercing sound that could be heard throughout the building, from his cell to Bucky's, and it nearly made Bucky's ears bleed more than once. It was later, when he escaped with the kid, that he learned that it wasn't Peter who could scream like a tortured cat.

It was Venom.

Venom is the black slime-y thing that HYDRA put into Peter. Why call him Venom? No idea. Peter chose it, and he was five at the time. But it seemed to please the creature.

''They go by them/they.'' Peter said.

Bucky tore his eyes away from the landscape visible behind the bus windows. He looked down at the boy next to him.

''What?''

''Venom wants us to use them/they when we talk about them.'' the kid replied with his childish voice.

Bucky raised an eyebrow but didn't protest. They had enough problems as it is, no need to anger the creature in a bus full of travelers, old people and runaway teenagers.

''Alright...''

The smile Peter returned was blinding, and Bucky blinked. How can this kid still smile after all he's been through? _And_ be happy about the thing that was forced into him? It was a mystery. But, hey, that's what they were to each other: a mystery. They didn't know much about the other. Only names, physical abilities, favorite food, clothing size... But at the same time, they knew more about each other than about other people. They don't who they were before HYDRA, but they do know who they are now.

Bucky and Peter.

Two people forbidden from having a normal life because some fucked-ass man wanted them back in a laboratory.

Like hell they're letting HYDRA take them back.

So they move, always sleep in motels and ride some kind of transportation to another place. From time to time, they stay a day or two in the same town, but they never linger.

HYDRA is still on their tails.

They tried to stay in America, first. But they were always found in the country. They were followed down to South America, and then back up. And thus, in the span of four years.

Finally, Bucky decided it was enough and he took them to Europe. The trip wasn't easy. They couldn't afford plane tickets, and even if they could, they didn't have any passport to pass the customs. So they packed a bag full of enough food to last them a few weeks, and they boarded a boat, clandestinely. During two months, they lived hidden inside the ship, stealing food and water when they needed them. It was uncomfortable, tedious, and Venom nearly got them caught more than once, but in the end, they managed.

Going to Europe was a good idea. HYDRA lost their trail, and they were left alone. But they didn't stop moving anyway. They went through every country. Germany. France. England. Romania. Italy... Learning the language as they go. And they were passing through France again to join Spain when shit hit the fan.

Well. At least they had a few years to prepare. He had time to teach Peter how to fight while improving his own techniques. The kid grew up and learned how to better control Venom and the powers offered to him by the presence of the slime-y thing inside of him.

''Bucky!'' was the only warning he got before Peter pushed him onto the floor, a bullet flying above them.

Honestly, HYDRA gave Peter really nice powers. Ability to sense incoming danger? Cool. Even if it was technically Venom's doing.

Around them, Parisians started running everywhere, screaming at each other to hide and get the hell away from the guy with the gun... and filming the scene with their phones at the same time.

_Fucking technology._

Bucky got back onto his feet and sized his bag which had fallen onto the ground with him. Immediately, he grabbed Peter by his hoodie with his metal arm and started dragging him away. The muscular but lanky kid not-so-kid-anymore was muttering to himself, probably trying to contain Venom. _And he better contain the thing before it tries to kill everyone._ The slime-y thing was attempting to get out, to take control of their shared body to protect themselves, and Peter at the same time. Because if Peter died, Venom would die with him, and that's not something the thing wishes.

Don't get him wrong, Venom is a very powerful being and it is nice to have them on their side when they need them. And he doesn't mind when they literally _destroy_ HYDRA agents... But when they take over, Peter can no longer control them, and when they are attacked by a lot of agents — which they are now, he assesses, quickly looking behind his back — Venom has a tendency to not make the difference between friends and foes: they try and kill _everyone_ , including Bucky. And that's not good.

So they ran, they didn't try to fight. There was too many HYDRA agents and Paris was packed with people. If they were held responsible of civilian deaths, they would be searched, not only by HYDRA, but by the local police, and maybe the army, too. And that was not good either.

They turn to every corners the capital offers them and Peter uses his 'spider-webs' to block the exit of the last street they were in. This buys them a few precious minutes, but HYDRA will still find a way to pass through... or go around the buildings.

And Peter's hands are black and sizzling, Venom already on them.

''Calm down!'' he hears the kid say.

The pale gray hoodie is moving under Venom's movements, twisting and trashing in every directions, but it doesn't get any farther, Peter doesn't let them.

Still running, they turn another comer and-

''Shit!'' Bucky swears, not caring about his bad language, even within the presence of a kid. Peter saw and heard way much worse anyway... and has way much more to worry about right now than Bucky's rude attitude.

They stop.

They were in front of the Eiffel Tower, aka the most populated area of the whole city. Tourists were everywhere, taking pictures with the monuments while Parisians were ignoring them, used to the presence of strangers in their city. There were a lot of people, and that was strange — not the presence of these people, the Eiffel Tower is supposed to be packed with people. No, the strange thing was that this wasn't HYDRA's usual way of doing things. They never attacked them in plain sight before, where anyone with a phone can record them and post their actions on the internet.

But, hey, they have been after them for more than twelve years. Maybe they got desperate. Especially since they had disappeared from HYDRA's sight for a few years.

''We can't stay here!'' Bucky shouts to the kid.

He turns back to Peter, ready to push him into another direction, but the kid is falling on his knees, clenching his arms, and bending on himself. On his shoulder, a bullet hole is bleeding, and the liquid is slowly turning black.

Venom is out. They have teared the hoodie apart and are growing over Peter, getting bigger and bigger every second that passes. Bit by bit, they surround him, sizzling like a glitching screen, and shrieking like they are in pain. The kid looks at him, his brown eyes big and afraid.

''I'm sorry.'' he says. And then, quieter, for himself... for Venom. ''Please, don't hurt Bucky.''

And he disappears under the mass of black crackling slime.

Bucky had learned, soon after the beginning, that an injured Peter had more trouble containing Venom than a healthy Peter. Mostly because the creature tries harder to get out to save his ass, even if the fact that the kid gets too exhausted to fight him also has a part into it.

In the end, Bucky got a bullet hole near his ribs, and Peter a few scratches. All HYDRA agents died, and few innocent people did, too.

And the Eiffel Tower, France's most famous monument, lost a leg.


	2. ''when a black creature held onto it''

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags have been updated.

His phone blinked alive and blasted out its ringtone, a generic thing that he never understood how to change. Groaning, Steve Rogers let his arm fall onto his nightstand where the small device was. He opened an eye, the other still hidden onto the pillow, and rapidly closed it. The light produced by the phone was blinding after having stayed in the dark for so long, and the man nearly left it be. But the ringtone was still playing, and if he wanted to go back to sleep he needed to stop it.

So he reopened his eyelid, squinting to try and not destroy his sight, and that's when his gaze fell on the time.

4.37 AM.

 _What?_ Then _w_ _hy_ is this thing ringing? It's way too early to be doing anything! Damn the new technologies.

The phone went silent.

Ah. He took to long to silence it himself.

Steve shrugged as much as his lying position would allow him to. That's what he wanted, anyway. Peace and quiet. At least until the sun makes its first apparition for the day. He put the device back onto his nightstand and rolled over, ready to fall back asleep.

The phone blasted the generic song again.

Steve wanted to punch something.

''What do you want...?'' he sleepily asked the device before remembering that J.A.R.V.I.S. wasn't build into this model. ''Yeah, right...'' he mumbled. It's his fault anyway, he broke too much of the high quality models for Tony to keep giving them to him. He instead gave him models more robust but less 'technologically developed', Tony had said. J.A.R.V.I.S. couldn't fit into them.

_Modern technology is so **fragile**!_

So he rolled back again and took the phone, eyes half open, and read what it was trying to tell him.

Tony Stark was calling.

Steve sat up straight immediately, his military training taking over him. Tony never called, he preferred to send text messages. The only few times the engineer called was because of a case of an emergency. And even then, it had never been at four in the morning!

Something was wrong, very wrong.

He answers the phone.

''Hello?''

''Hey, Caps. I need you in the tower, _now_.''

Wow, way to kick around the bush.

''What's going on?'' he asks, already getting up and throwing some clothes on.

''Half of Paris is destroyed.'' Tony says. He's speaking fast and he sounds nervous. ''HYDRA attacked, I found someone you knew, he is not alone, and there was a black monster.''

Too much information at the same time. Steve freezes, one hand tugging one of his legs into a pant sleeve, the other foot half in the air for balance. The phone was tucked between his ear and his shoulder while his free hand was buttoning his shirt.

'' _What_ _?_ '' he asks, eloquently.

''I'll explain later. Just get your ass over here.''

Then Tony hangs up and Steve rushes out of the door.

 

* * *

 

Steve looks at the screen before him. He blinks a few times, then rubs his eyes and shakes his head, but the face in front of him doesn't change.

''Is it really him?'' he whispers, as if talking too loud would make his childhood friend disappear; for good, this time.

''My facial recognition software never fails.'' Tony answers. ''This man is indeed James Barnes, and he destroyed half of Paris.''

Steve sits down on a chair of the conference room table. In front of him, the large screen plays a shaky video of an attack on Paris which happened only a few hours prior. The sound was off, but it was easy to decipher the screams of civilians and the daunting crunch of the Eiffel Tower when a black creature held onto it to better kill people. There were bodies on the ground, a lot of bodies. A few of them wore normal clothes, and other wore dark uniforms with a red band around their arms: HYDRA agents.

And just under the enraged creature stood a man with a shiny gray left arm who was, seemingly, trying to talk to the beast.

Clint Barton tears his eyes away from the screen to look at Tony.

''Well, not really.'' he objects. ''The black monster did.''

Tony frowns and childishly points his finger at the archer.

''And the black monster _is_ with him. Haven't you seen the way he picks up the kid after he stopped being a monster? They're clearly friends!''

Natasha Romanoff crosses her arms and looks at them both.

''He didn't destroy half of Paris anyway. Just a leg of the Eiffel Tower... And maybe a few buildings. But not half of the city.'' she smirks, amused. Tony has a tendency to exaggerate everything. This time, he just told the Avengers that a whole part of one of the most famous cities of the entire world just disappeared. Sure, it wasn't a nice lie, but it was better to know that it was indeed a lie than to cry over the death of half of Paris. ''And...'' the spy adds, sobering up. ''This kid may be James' kid.''

''What?''

''What do you mean, lady Romanoff?''

It's Bruce Banner who answers.

''She means that the black monster is probably James' son.''

Tony looks at the screen and watches, again, how the black monster's skin seems to retract into itself and leave room for the kid's original body. The child immediately falls to the ground, unconscious, and James runs to him. The man picks him up and runs, leaving the place as fast as he can with an immobile kid, two large backpacks, and what seems to be a bullet hole near his ribs.

Then the video freezes a few seconds and resumes from the beginning.

Tony frowns.

''How old is the kid?'' he asks.

It's Clint — who has a few children himself, hidden in one out his safe houses with his wife — who answers.

''He doesn't seem to be more than fifteen or sixteen.'' he says, a mix of sadness and anger in his voice.

''That's a young age...'' Thor Odinson breathes.

Tony grimaces.

''If he's really James' son, it means that James has been alive for at least fifteen or sixteen years. Probably more.'' he explains.

In the silence that stretches, Steve rubs his face and takes a deep breath.

James 'Bucky' Barnes died — no, _disappeared_ , he is alive and moving in this video — he disappeared only a year before Steve crashed into ice and stayed stuck there for seventy years. Bucky was as dead as a man could be, he _fell_ from a train and down a precipice. Even if his body was never found, no man could survive something like that.

But he did, and seventy years later, he came back, looking nearly as young as he was back then.

But not looking for Steve.

Why hasn't he looked for Steve? He knows his old friend is also alive. How could he not? Captain America's face was known all around the globe, Bucky had no other choice than to stumble upon this information somehow, wherever he was. If he needed protection, for him and his son, he knew he could come and ask Steve for help.

But he _didn't_...

''I need to find him.'' Steve says to no one in particular.

Tony claps his hands and smiles the way he does when he thinks he just found a good idea.

''And we will help you.'' he happily states. ''Jarvis, track James the same way you identified him: with cameras. Find his exact position so we can send Steve there.''

''Yes, sir.'' the AI replies with his British accent. ''Would you also like me to have the jet prepared?''

Tony smiles, proudly.

''What a beautiful idea!''

''Hm...'' Bruce begins, playing nervously with his fingernails. ''I know we all want to go, but we can't.''

Thor looks at him, an eyebrow raised questioningly.

''Why? Is your flying ship too small to accommodate us all? If so, I can fly with Mjölnir.'' he offers.

The doctor shakes his head, his eyes soft and a small smile timidly trying to make its place on his face. Bruce was always amused by the cultural differences between Thor and earth, and always curious to know more about them. It's just what he his: a scientist.

''This is nice of you, but that's not the problem.'' he says. ''It's-''

''SHIELD.'' Tony cuts him.

Bruce just nods at him while Clint frowns in confusion.

''If we all suddenly disappear from New York, Fury will try and bring our asses back here.'' Tony explains. ''And if we want to be left alone with this mission — and we should want to be, since SHIELD is also going to be looking for James and his kid after what happened in Paris and we don't need them trying to stop us too — we have to be discreet. Which means, some of us can't go. We have to stay here and keep protecting New York like nothing happened.''

''Then who will go?'' Natasha asks.

''Well, Steve, obviously. Then-''

''I'm going.''

Every heads turn to Clint who blinks at them, surprised by the sudden attention.

''What can I say?'' the archer shrugs. ''It's my paternal instinct. I won't let any kid suffer like this one probably is.'' he explains, pointing to the black monster on the screen.

They all nod, agreeing.

Steve sits up straighter.

''So that's already me and Clint.'' he counts. ''Who else?''

They all look at each other, trying to find the best Avenger for this mission. They can't send more than three of them without it becoming suspicious. Fury knows when something is happening under his nose, it's hard to fool him: they can't take any risk.

It's Natasha who finds the solution.

''Bruce should go. His medical knowledge could be useful.'' she says, smiling reassuringly at the doctor.

Bruce fidgets under everyone's stare, his own eyes surveying the floor. He hesitates a few seconds then nods.

''Sir.'' J.A.R.V.I.S. interrupts. ''I found them.''

Clint whistles, impressed by the AI's speed while Tony reacts immediately.

''Show me.'' the engineer orders.

The video of Paris displayed on the big screen suddenly disappears and is replaced by a black and white picture of a crowd waiting for a train on a station platform. In the middle of all these people, a kid with a hoodie and a man with a large backpack each have a blue numerical square over their heads, put there by J.A.R.V.I.S. to make them pop out of the crowd.

''They have just boarded a train for a French city called Montpellier, with a stop by Avignon.'' the AI reports. ''But I'm afraid I do not know yet where they will get off.''

''Okay, thanks, Jarvis.''

''You're welcome, sir.''

Tony claps his hands with finality and reports his attention to the Avengers in front of him.

''So. Steve, Clint and Bruce. You have two hours to prepare your luggage before the take off. You need to be as fast as possible because these two-'' he points at the screen, ''-are moving, and they seem to know what they are doing. We don't want to lose them. Understood?''

''Yep.'' Clint says for the three of them.

''Then let's go.''

 

* * *

 

In the beginning, it was difficult.

The kid was loud, always babbling about one thing or another. Most of the time, his sentences didn't make any sense and it was hard for Bucky to understand them. He was no more than five when he picked him up, he couldn't really speak yet... Well, Bucky had no idea when a child is supposed to be able to say full and complete sentences, but one thing was sure:

Peter couldn't talk.

Sure, the kid knew a few words, simple ones like 'hungry', 'water', 'wanna sleep',... Those were really useful to know when the kid needed anything. Can you imagine what it could've been if Peter didn't talk? How hard it would've been to have to interpret the cries? Especially knowing that they had to hide? Bucky was happy he didn't have to.

Peter couldn't pronounce his own name correctly or say how old he was. So Bucky just looked at him, assumed he was around five, and declared the day they escaped as his birthday.

It was simple.

A few months with Bucky and the kid could speak nearly as much as him. _He learns fast._ he thought when he first noticed the progress. Yes, he still made a few grammatical mistakes, but he was _way_ easier to understand. It was then that Peter told him the name he gave to the black thing. Bucky didn't argue it, at the time. It was just a kid thing, giving a silly name to a pet.

But, to his disappointment, the name stuck.

 _Venom_. Couldn't he find something more _stupid_?

Bucky doesn't know when the burdensome kid became _his_ kid. At first, he always referred to him in his head as the kid he took on his way out because his newly-discovered big heart couldn't stand the thought of leaving a child in-between HYDRA's hands — he just _couldn't_. He remembers, however, when he realized it. A HYDRA agent had gotten a hold of Peter, when he was nine.

''Don't touch my kid!'' Bucky had screamed at that guy. And when the menace had passed and he had time to think about it, he had just shrugged, because it was true.

He's not the father of the kid, but _damn him_ if he's not going to protect him as his own.

It made him wonder, then, if he had kids of his own. Who knows what he did before HYDRA? Maybe he got himself a cute girlfriend and made some children...

Would he ever know?

But it doesn't matter, now. If he has kids, he doesn't remember them anyway. He can't find them, he has no way to.

And he has Peter. It's enough for him. He's not alone.


	3. ''they don't want the world to learn''

It's a ten hour fly from New York to Paris, and then one hour from Paris to Montpellier's airport. They still don't know if Bucky and the kid will go to Avignon or Montpellier, but Avignon doesn't have an airport, so they are forced to go to Montpellier anyway. But at least, thanks to a billionaire Tony and a private jet, they don't have to follow the public's lines and can go straight to Montpellier without having to go through another town. It's one hour saved.

It's one and a half hour after the take off, and three and a half hour after the beginning of the mission, that they learn their 'targets'' position.

''Sirs.'' J.A.R.V.I.S. voice suddenly resonates into the plane, cutting short an interesting conversation about cars. ''They left the train.''

Steve turns to the front of the plane where the AI's metallic, yet polite voice is coming from.

''Where are they?'' he asks.

''Montpellier.'' is the short answer.

''Cool.'' Clint breathes happily. ''Exactly where we're going!''

''How long until we get there?'' Bruce enquirers.

''About eight and a half hour.''

The doctor grimaces. That's long.

''Thanks, Jarvis.'' he says anyway. It's not the AI's fault, no need to get angst-y.

''You're welcome, Mister Banner.''

J.A.R.V.I.S. ends the communication and Steve sits back onto his seat, sighing loudly. Clint turns to him and raises an eyebrow.

''Okay. What's wrong?'' he asks him. The glare Steve sends his way makes the archer retreat, hands held up in front of him as a peace gesture. ''Sorry, scratch that. That was a stupid question.''

The super soldier returns his gaze to the ceiling, and stays silent. For a few minutes, the only noises that could be heard were the roar of the plane's engines and the occasional beeps of the control panel. Clint had retired his hearing aids and were cleaning them with a cloth when he saw Steve's mouth move again. The archer reports his attention on the other man and tries to decipher his words, but he isn't successful. He missed the beginning of the sentence and couldn't place the current words into a context.

''What?'' he asks, putting his aids back into his ears.

''I said I was wondering how Bucky managed to stay alive.'' Steve says. He sits up straighter and looks at his friends.

Identifying the conversation as important, Bruce activates the autopilot to have his hands free and his entire attention on them.

''Not that I want him dead but--'' the super soldier continues, ''-he _fell_ into a precipice. No one is supposed to survive that.''

''And _you_ fell into ice, with a half-destroyed jet, and stayed there for _seventy_ years. But here you are today.'' Bruce retorts.

Steve chuckles, laying back on his seat and making it slightly turn with his feet planted firmly on the floor. Right, left, right, left,...

''Yeah, right.'' he breaths. ''But I'm still wondering. I mean- I saw him _die_ , but...''

''What if he got stuck into ice too?''

Steve and Bruce both turn to face Clint, a surprised expression on their faces.

''Well, it's possible, isn't it?'' the archer explains. ''The mission where he supposedly died happened in winter, right? If there was a river or some kind of water down that precipice, he could have frozen and stayed there all this time.'' When no one answer and they still look at him like he has just grown a second head, Clint grimaces. ''What? I'm a spy, I can think too!''

They blink.

''You... have a point.'' Bruce concedes, frowning. And then his eyes open wide in realization.

''What?'' Steve immediately asks. ''What have you found?''

''The reason why HYDRA is after him.'' the doctor answers. ''This is just a theory, but I think it's the right one.''

Steve leans forward, his elbows placed on his knees.

''And what is your theory?'' he whispers, half-scared and half-exited to know the truth... well, the maybe-truth, but that's still progress from where they were before: in the middle of nowhere.

''Jarvis?'' Bruce says. ''Could you report what I'm about to say to Tony, please? He would want to hear this.''

With this kind of information, Tony could, with his weird super ability to search, discover the real truth. All he needs is somewhere to begin, and Bruce is about to give him that.

''Of course, Mister Banner.'' the AI calmly answers.

''Thank you.'' The doctor says to J.A.R.V.I.S. Then he takes a deep breath and looks at Steve in the eyes. ''I think HYDRA are the ones who took him out of the ice. They had to know who he was, I mean- _you_ were famous and it spread to your whole team. They could have thought that having Captain America's right hand man and best friend could only be an advantage. I think they tried to transform him into a super soldier too. I don't know yet if it worked or not, but Bucky must have escaped since, and that's why HYDRA wants him back: they weren't done with him.''

''Or they are done-'' Clint adds, his head in one hand and his gaze onto the floor. His eyebrows were furrowed as he was clearly trying to digest the information. ''-but they don't want the world to learn about their activities.''

''That too.'' Bruce says, nodding sideways at Clint.

Steve leans back again. He doesn't say anything for a few moment, and in the silence, the engines hum become nearly deafening. When he finally opens his mouth, he seems determined.

''In the end, it doesn't change anything.'' he states. ''Bucky is in trouble, because of HYDRA, and we're going to help him. Him, and the kid with him.''

Clint lifts his head and smiles.

''Yep.''

 

* * *

 

 

Peter is silent. He hasn't said anything since he woke up, and Bucky doesn't like that. The kid is always talking, always telling some stupid stories or joking. Even after an encounter with HYDRA, he is always smiling, always trying to cheer Bucky up.

But now it's him who needs cheering up.

The train is going fast but it's not like he isn't used to it. They spend their lives traveling, he knows about train speed. It's not like they have a choice, especially now.

HYDRA found them. After years of silence and happy simple trips, the fucking organization attacked them... in _public_. Bucky isn't sure, now that he had time to think, if it's because they indeed got desperate or because they wanted to capture them as soon as possible before they disappear again.

But he doesn't care, it doesn't change anything anyway. Peter got scared and injured, and Venom got out in the middle of a crowd. People died — including, thankfully, all HYDRA agents — and he got a bullet hole that is slowly healing under his shirt. But, hey, they are still alive.

They managed.

But the kid is still silent.

It's weird how uncomfortable it's making him. He remembers craving for silence before, when Peter was talking his ear off with words and stupid thoughts. But somehow, it was also comforting to know that whatever happened, the kid was happy — at least as much as he could be with a life like that.

Bucky extends his hand to the kid sited on his right. Peter doesn't react when he ruffles his hair, but he does look up when the man starts to talk.

''Why are you sad?'' he asks; and it's a stupid question, he knows it, but he needs the kid to _talk_. ''We're still alive and HYDRA didn't get us.''

Peter's fists clench over his bag on his lap. He purses his lips and frowns, and for a few minutes he says nothing.

''I'm sorry...'' he finally mumbles. ''I couldn't stop them. I couldn't stop them and innocent people died...!''

Bucky's heart _hurts_.

Venom is usually a nice thing to live with. They are sarcastic and they repeat so many times that they want to kill that it becomes amusing — Bucky knows because Peter often tells him what they say in the kid's head.

The only problem is when Peter is in danger, because it means that _Venom_ is in danger. The thing loses every once of morality the kid managed to taught them and fight for the control of their shared body. And if they win, they destroy everything in their path, enemies and innocent people alike; and in the beginning, they always came for Bucky too.

Everyone die, no discrimination.

And it hurts Bucky's heart... Well, not because of he death of innocent people — he doesn't really care, he didn't even know them! — but because it hurts Peter to wake up after one of Venom's temper tantrums to find that they had killed. Sometimes, he still has Venom's victims' blood in his mouth from where the thing had bitten them.

That's when Peter stays silent the longest.

But the kid isn't always _that_ sentimental, because when Venom only kills HYDRA agents he has no trouble smiling as soon as they are out of danger. Why would he cry for them? They are bad people...

But right now, the kid is tearing up, the feeling of guilt too strong for him to keep it inside. Bucky sighs. Peter's heart is too big for his own good. One day, it's going to kill him.

''It's not your fault.'' the man says, repeating the words Peter always tells him when he feels bad about dragging the kid into a life of constant flight. ''You did nothing wrong. On the contrary, you saved me.''

And Peter, recognizing the words, scrunches his nose in his attempt to contain the tears. But in the end, when Bucky smiles at him, he lets go and hugs him. He hides his head onto the man's chest and lets the tears fall.

Bucky just pats his back and let him cry.


	4. ''American dollars would be useful''

''Wow.''

''That's...''

''Incredible? Beautiful?''

''Uselessly huge.''

''I agree.''

It's supposed to be an hotel room, just enough place for three people.

''Why am I not surprised?''

''Tony's exaggerating...''

''He's always exaggerating.''

But there were enough space for _ten_ people.

Steve drops his bag into the large and perfectly decorated living room. He's quickly followed by Bruce and Clint who both look around the place, an unimpressed look on the doctor's face, and wide, amused eyes for the archer.

''We should've been expecting this.'' Clint says, a smile on his face. ''This is Tony's style.''

Bruce sighs, tiredly rubbing his eyes in consternation.

''That's not important.'' he breathes, walking to a random bedroom to put his bag onto the bed. ''Let's just unpack and start looking for James.''

Clint's smile disappear.

''Oh, yeah. Right...''

And so they visit and choose a bed. The hotel room has six bedrooms, four with king sized beds, and two with two smaller beds — probably kid's rooms. The kitchen is connected to the living room and separated from the couch zone by a long dining table able to receive twelve people. There is two bathrooms, one on each side of the corridor in which the bedrooms doors are. There is also a large bay window in the living room which gives access to a high balcony with a magnificent view of the city.

Steve often forgets how rich Tony is.

Once every bag is dropped and a small snack has been eaten, the three men stand in the living room, ready to leave. They are dressed in casual clothes, for discretion — they're trying to found someone who doesn't want to be found, fans recognizing them in the streets would only be problematic — but comfortable enough to be able to fight, because- who knows when they would need to?

''So...'' Clint starts, his arrows hidden into a large black bag on his back and his bow folded in two in his hands. ''Where are we going?''

Steve raises an eyebrow.

''Outside.'' he says, his tone implying that the archer is stupid.

Clint rolls his eyes.

''That, I know.'' he breathes. ''But where _exactly_? This city is huge, how are we going to find them?''

J.A.R.V.I.S.' voice chooses this moment to echo from Bruce's phone, making the doctor jump. Really, sometimes, the software had perfect timing, it was impressive.

''I think I can be of some assistance.'' the AI says.

''Yeah right, the cameras...'' Clint mutters to himself.

The doctor picks the device out of his pocket and holds it between the three of them.

''Do you have something?'' Bruce asks the phone.

''Well, I'm afraid I lost them a few hours ago.'' J.A.R.V.I.S. answers apologetically. ''But I can guide you to the last place-''

The AI stops. Steve frowns.

''Jarvis? Is something wrong?'' he asks.

For a few seconds, J.A.R.V.I.S. stays silent. The three Avengers look at each other, all wondering what caused that sudden pause. The AI never had any trouble functioning before. He was one of Tony's best creations, so he didn't have any bugs. Had he been corrupted? If so, then the person doing that must be really talented, since the genius engineer made sure-

''Pardon me for my silence.'' the AI says, and all three of them sight in relief.

No corruption. Good.

But Bruce frowns at the phone. Does J.A.R.V.I.S. sound... exited?

''What happened?'' the doctor asks.

''I just spotted one of the targets through a few security cameras.'' the AI happily states. And Tony made a good work of modulating J.A.R.V.I.S.' voice to express emotions, it works perfectly and it makes him more human. And sometimes, he sounded a bit like Tony.

''Who?'' Steve immediately inquires.

''The child, Mister Rogers.'' J.A.R.V.I.S. answers. ''He currently is at the _Place de la Comédie_ , which is one of the city's most important square.''

Clint's sudden smile is blinding.

''Jarvis, you are awesome!'' he says. ''What would we do without you?''

''You flatter me, Mister Barton.'' the AI politely replies.

Steve doesn't lose any time. He exits the triangle of Avengers and walks to the door.

''Then what are we waiting for?'' he asks. ''For the kid to disappear again?''

Clint's smile changes and becomes more exited. Bruce shudders and discretely takes a step back away from him. The archer looks like he is on one of his spy's mission and he has a target to eliminate. Not that he thinks that Clint is going to hurt him, but...

That's not a very reassuring expression.

''Hell no.'' Clint responds to Steve's ironical question, and quickly trots to the door.

Bruce just pockets his phone, rolls his eyes, and follows them out.

 

* * *

 

Steve doesn't have his shield with him. It would draw to much attention to them, and attention is the last thing they need. But he kind of misses the reassuring weight of his protective weapon. He is in a city he doesn't know, searching for someone he doesn't know the name of, and disguised in clothes his is not used to.

Not funny.

At least, he is with two people whom he trusts with his life, and he understands a bit of French, otherwise he would be really stressed.

Yeah, he knows French. It's not something a lot of people know about. He's not really trying to keep it a secret, it's just that he doesn't talk about it... He never had an occasion to and no one ever asked. He learned the language from the source during the war, with one of his friends — a French guy — who was on Captain America's special team: the Howling Commandos. He can't say he's fluent, though. He just knows enough to be able to make his way around the city and ask for help if needed.

But in the end, they don't need to. J.A.R.V.I.S. put a very clear map on Bruce's phone that they can easily follow. And when they arrive to the _Place de la Comédie_ , the first thing he notices is how it's packed with people.

Every inches of the square is full of men and women quickly walking from point A to point B. A few musicians are on the sides, playing and singing for the less hurried pedestrians — and Steve thinks he recognizes one of the songs, it's one of those his French friend loved to sing when he had nothing else to do. A few children are running here and there under the careful surveillance of their parents, and they are laughing and screaming each time they win their game.

Steve frowns

''Are you sure he's here?'' he asks J.A.R.V.I.S.

''Yes, sir.'' the AI replies from the phone. ''I can still see him through one of the security camera. He hasn't left the _P_ _lace_ _de la Comédie_.''

But that's not _logic_. Why would he come here, a place full of people, when he is trying to hide from HYDRA?

''Isn't he supposed to be hiding?'' he asks the other two Avengers with him.

''He is.'' Bruce answers slowly, his tone implying that he doesn't understand that fact either. ''But he's here anyway.''

'' _Why?_ '' the super soldier urges.

Bruce and Steve both turn to Clint who looks at them with as much confusion. Then the archer squints his eyes, frowns and open his mouth in outrage.

''Hey, don't look at me like that! It's not because I'm a dad that I'm an expert on child behavior.'' he claims, pointing his index finger at them. ''Especially the behavior of a kid who probably didn't get a traditional family.''

They both sigh. The archer is right.

''Anyway, that's not important.'' Bruce then states. ''We need to find him.''

Steve grimaces.

''It's not going to be easy.'' he says, gesturing to the lot of people before them. ''He's somewhere in the middle of that crowd.''

Clint snorts and folds his arms.

''Well, I'm not playing 'Where's Waldo?'.'' he remarks. ''Jarvis? Where is the kid?''

''He's on the south part of the _Place de la Comédie_ , next to the beginning of a large path leading to a commercial area.'' the AI immediately answers.

Clint looks at Steve and Bruce with bright eyes which seem to be implying that he _knows_ he is smarter than them.

Bruce just rolls his eyes while Steve snorts. Everyone have their own specialties, fields where they are better. The doctor knows Clint wouldn't understand anything scientific like him, or wouldn't be able to fight with a shield like Steve. The same way Steve is shy around children, or he himself wouldn't be able to shoot an arrow — without the Big Guy, he has no strength in his arms...

''Thank you, Jarvis.'' Clint says.

''You're welcome, Mister Barton.''

Steve claps his hands.

''Let's go, then.'' he states.

The kid is on the opposite side of the square from where they are. So they walk, Steve on the front and Bruce and Clint behind him. They dodge a few children, here and there. Nothing very exiting, really. There is a young woman on their left, standing still in a simple jean and a black short-sleeved t-shirt. She's looking at her phone and seems to be waiting for someone. The foot tapping on the ground is betraying her impatience. Whoever she's waiting for is late.

A man quickly passes next to them, screaming orders into a phone while tapping on a tablet.

'' _Non, non_ _!_ _Le_ _budget_ _est de cinq-cent, il est_ _ **hors de question**_ _-_ _!_ '' he says, then he's too far to be heard. He disappears as fast as he appeared, and Steve reports his attention to a musician sitting close-by. He has a worn light brown guitar and is playing a French song the super soldier doesn't recognize. A new title, probably. A few people stops to listen to him, and an elderly-looking woman faintly nods her head at the rhythm. In front of him sits a black hat filled with a few euros. Steve would have left a coin or two too, but he doesn't have any euros on him and he doubts American dollars would be useful to the musician.

They approach the commercial zone, and farther into the, indeed, large path stands a big supermarket, a glacier, and a two-story library.

''So, he's somewhere here...'' Bruce mutters.

Steve just nods and keeps looking.

A few stalls are held directly into the street. They sell a lot of small things and gadgets, and people are observing the goods and trying to decipher if the price given by the seller is the real value of the object or not. A small girl is jumping around and asking and asking again for her mother to buy her one of the toys. The woman doesn't seem pleased about this.

There is a teenager in a large dark gray hoodie looking at a plastic object over a middle aged man's shoulder. His hood over his head prevents Steve from seeing his face, but what he does see, however, is how the kid's hand is getting closer and closer to the man's back pocket. He clearly is aiming for the wallet- and Steve doesn't think, he just does what any good patriot would do: stop the thief.

He closes the distance between him and the kid in two steps and quickly grabs him by the incriminated arm before the child has any time to leave.

'' _Ne fait pas ça._ '' Steve scolds, the French words easily coming to him. His accent is rough, though, and for a few seconds he's afraid the kid won't understand him.

But if he does understand or not, Steve doesn't care anymore as soon as the kid lifts his head and he sees the child's face.

It's _him_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRANSLATIONS:
> 
> ''Non, non ! Le budget est de cinq-cent, il est hors de question- !''  
> ''No, no! The budget is five hundreds, it is out of the question-!''
> 
> ''Ne fait pas ça.''  
> ''Don't do that.''


	5. ''take a nap''

Peter's spider-senses goes off a few seconds before a large blond man grabs his arm. Usually, he would have had time to get away before the danger strikes him- but he is hungry, tried, and oh _so close_ to that wallet that he prefers to get the money before fleeing.

Obviously, he wasn't fast enough.

'Let me kill him.' hisses in his head, and Peter frowns.

 _No._ he tells Venom, or rather thinks to them. _We don't need another carnage._

Peter pays attention to the man. He's a large, tall blond man with light blue eyes. He's made of muscles and his grip on his arm is strong — he's clearly not letting him go. The man seems uncomfortable in his clothes, like he's not used to simple t-shirts and black trousers, and he is... oddly familiar. Peter is under the impression that he has seen him before, somewhere... But where?

The blond man's eyes open wide, his strong jaw slightly dropping to the ground, and Peter puts his foot a few inches back, discretely taking a defensive position.

'HYDRA?' Venom asks, but Peter doesn't know.

He's not taking any risk anyway. It wouldn't the first time a HYDRA agent dressed as a normal person to better get to them. He remembers the grandma-

Venom shivers inside of him.

'No grandma.' they say, and Peter stops thinking about it.

The middle aged man he tried to steal from turns to him, alerted by the commotion. His gray eyebrows are furrowed in confusion, before taking in the way his arm is held by the blond man and understanding appears on his face. The old man immediately puts his hand on his back pocket, feeling for the wallet that is, sadly, still there.

 _Yes, I tried to steal._ Peter thinks ironically. _But I need the money and you don't look like you'll miss it._

Indeed, the old man has an expensive-looking watch on his wrist and really cool shinny shoes.

The blond man looks behind him and Peter follows his gaze. Two other men are running toward them, concern and surprise on their faces. The blond man's mouth opens, breathing in- and Peter can see how his chest then contracts, preparing itself to bring the air back to the throat to talk.

Venom sizzles on his free hand, covering it of black moving slime, and Peter lift it to his face.

''I found the kid!'' the blond man shouts to his friends.

Peter strikes.

He doesn't put all his strength into it, even if Venom tries to make him to. He knows that if he uses all his power in one hit, he could kill the man — especially if he's aiming for the head — and the last thing they need is a body on their hands.

He hits him in the face, and the blond man stumbles back. His arm is freed, and he doesn't wait to see the way the man puts his hand on his — possibly broken — nose, doesn't wait to see the way his friends finally reach him, or the way the man _doesn't fall_ to the ground-

Peter runs.

He runs as fast as he can, dodging the surprised crowd until he is out of the square. He knows without looking back that the three strangers are running after him. He hears their quick steps.

''Stop!'' one of them shouts at him. ''We're not here to hurt you!''

 _Like hell._ Peter thinks. He knows better than to believe strangers' words.

'Let me kill!' Venom hisses, and Peter grits his teeth against Venom.

 _Stop fighting! You're not going out!_ he tells them. But he isn't afraid of Venom taking control again, they haven't regained enough energy yet. But their tentative for freedom is distracting him.

'Kill, kill, kill!' they sing in his head.

Peter just ignores them and keeps running.

He turns a few streets until he is out of the most populated areas. If a fight have to happen, at least, here, they won't be putting innocent people into harm's way.

'So sweet.' Venom says, stopping their strange song just to mock him. And then they continue again. 'Let me kill!'

''Wait!'' someone screams behind him.

Peter doesn't obey. He goes into another street and quickly looks behind him.

No one.

He jumps onto the closest wall and starts climbing it with his sticky hands — another power he got from Venom, and a rather useful one. However, his shoes are getting in the way, so he stops. He's losing time, he knows, but he needs them _off_. Suspended on one hand, he takes his trainers and socks away and holds them with one hand. Then he keeps climbing the wall, with one hand taken, yeah, but with three other perfectly functioning sticky limbs — much better.

'They're closer' Venom warns him, so he climbs faster. His spider-senses are still screaming at him to get away, and he uses the provided adrenaline to hiss himself onto the roof.

As soon he has one foot on the floor, Peter throws himself onto the ground and lays there, un-moving. In this position, someone in the street below looking up to the buildings' roofs wouldn't be able to see him. Well, if he was farther into the center of the roof, he wouldn't have to hide that way, but he didn't have time to go there so did the first thing that came to his mind in order to hide.

The whole thing happened in only a few seconds... and just in time.

Three pairs of footsteps echo from the street he just left. Peter hears how they arrive running, and how they then slow down, hesitating.

''Where is he?'' one of them asks. ''Where did he go?''

''Jarvis?'' someone prompts.

''I am afraid I don't know, Mister Rogers.'' a robotic voice answers, making Peter jump.

Since when does HYDRA have robots? And _where the hell_ did that robot came from? He hasn't seen anything back there!

''There is no cameras in this street.'' the robot continues.

A robot which have access to public security cameras. Yay.

Wait, wait, _wait_. Did the robot say 'Rogers'? As in 'Steve Rogers', alias 'Captain America'? _Really?_

Oh, _whatever_. Seriously, what are the chances that the real Captain America was actually here, in a street that is lost somewhere in a not-so-world-wide-known French city? Why would he be in France anyway? It's in his name, his job is to protect _America_ , not Europe. Plus, 'Rogers' is a pretty common name in America, and, judging by their accents, these people are Americans... Well, except maybe the robot. It has a British accent — a really cool one, by the way.

Hey, now that he thinks about it, that blond man looked a lot like Cap-

'Focus.' Venom hisses, so Peter does.

''He can't be far.'' the first one says and- _oh_ how that guy is right. Peter is just there, a few feet above them. _Hi!_

A third one — the one who hasn't said a word until now — continues.

''Let's keep looking in the area. With a bit of luck, we may find him again.''

The other two agree, and soon, his three pursuers are leaving. Or four? Does that robot count?

When his spider-senses finally calm, Peter crawls forward until he is far enough from the edge to sit up without fear of being seen. Then he looks down at his fingers. There were three men, he counts. Three men, three pairs of footsteps, but four different voices including a robotic one...

 _Where_ the hell is the robot?

'Don't care.' Venom hisses, and Peter sighs. He is too easily distracted. He just escaped HYDRA agents and as soon as he can finally breath he is thinking of a _robot_. But what can he say? He loves technology! Way more than Bucky, that's for sure.

Ah. Speaking of Bucky...

''We gotta warn Bucky'' he mutters to Venom. He grabs his shoes and socks and put them where they're supposed to be: on his feet. Then he thinks of the fastest way to go back to their current hiding-spot... and sighs again.

His fastest option is to web himself there, but he can't do that — he'll be seen. Other alternative: jump on the roofs. But that's not good either. Even if it's not as 'supernatural' as webs, it is still too uncommon to travel that way. They want to be _discreet_.

'Who cares?' Venom complains.

''I care.'' Peter says. ''And you should, too. Do I need to remind you that if I die, you die too?''

Venom stays silent.

''Good. Now let me think.''

But there isn't a lot of thinking to do. His only way is to walk, with his perfectly functioning little feet, to the hiding-spot. Peter groans.

One of the first thing that Bucky had taught him when he was young was to protect the hiding-spot. Because it's their only place of rest and peace... and it's a _pain in the ass_ to find another one when HYDRA discovers where they like to hide. And that means that when HYDRA agents are after them, they have to run in the opposite direction from the spot to keep its location a secret.

And that also means that Peter is now a few miles away from their current hiding-spot.

So he has to run, because the faster he is, the more time they have to pack what little things they have and _go_. He doesn't like to run. There's nothing fun about that, it's not as _exciting_ as webbing himself is. But, well, that's how things are. What can he do about it?

Peter stands up, climbs down the wall into the street, and starts running.

_I hate HYDRA._

 

* * *

 

It's healing, at least. But it still _hurts_.

Bucky replaces the red-stained gauze onto his injury — just to protect it against infections: the bullet hole has long since stopped bleeding. He grimaces at the dark color. They don't have enough gauze to change their bandages every few hours like they should, so it will have to do. Plus, no one will see it, it's hidden beneath his shirt.

It will take three or four days before it heals completely, and a few days after that for the scars to disappear. It's way faster than a normal human being, but to Bucky, it's still too long.

Sitting on the floor, the man lifts his head to the window. From his place on the ground, all he can see is the sky, which is of a beautiful clear blue.

It's not the first time he chose an empty flat which had been put for sell as a hiding-spot. They have ten stories of stairs to climb and there is no furniture, sure, but absolutely _no one_ has ever thought of looking for them in such a place. Well, a few times, they had to run out because someone came to visit the place, but it's fairly rare: most of the time, Peter's spider-senses can prevents these kind of things.

Thinking of the devil, someone knocks on the door a very precise rhythm. Bucky half-smile half-scowls. The kid sure took his sweet time.

The man stands up, faintly groaning when he pulls on his injury, and walks to the door. He unlocks it, and as soon as the key is turned, Peter barges into the living room, hair disheveled, covered in sweat and breathing heavily.

''We have-'' he whizzes, a panicked look on his face. ''We have to go.''

Bucky doesn't argue. He closes the door and hurriedly goes to pack their bags while the kid catches his breath, hands on his knees.

''HYDRA?'' the man asks.

Peter takes a few seconds to reply. He is breathing so fast Bucky is afraid the kid might collapse on him- and now is not the time to take a nap!

''Maybe.'' Peter says in the end. ''They were- dressed in civilian clothes, but-''

''HYDRA can disguise, I know.'' Bucky completes for him, taking pity on the kid. ''Do you have money?''

Peter looks at him and straightens up. He is still breathing heavily, but at least he can stand on his own two feet.

''Yeah.'' he nods. ''I got a few before HYDRA...'' He doesn't finish his sentence and puts his hands into his hoodie's front pocket instead. When he takes his hands out, a few wallets fall to the ground and Peter rushes to pick them up.

Bucky, in his quick packing up, still finds time to roll his eyes.

''Put the money into our wallet.'' he says, throwing a large black wallet which the kid easily catch. ''We don't have time to drop the rest at a police station, so throw them through the window and hope someone will do the right thing.''

And Peter does just that.

In a wallet, people put a lot of thing — not only money. Peter doesn't know if people in America do this too — he started pick-pocketing when he was older and they already were in Europe then — but here, in wallets, there were driving licenses, IDs, bank cards, other important papers, and sometimes even _condoms_. Everything in one place: easy to transport but also easy to steal. Usually, after emptying the wallets from the money they desperately need, they bring the remaining papers at a police station. The policemen then look at the IDs, determine whose wallet this is, and then contact the person to come and get their papers.

They may be thieves but they aren't bad people.

Peter throws the wallets through the window, and Bucky can hear surprised exclamations form a few people in the street below. Then the kid turns to him, opens his mouth to talk, but-

He freezes.

Bucky immediately tenses, too; because Peter never freezes without a reason, and that reason often is 'spider-senses in alert', which always means 'trouble'.

Knock, knock, knock.

'' _Bonjour ? Je viens visiter l'appartement !_ '' a polite feminine voice says.

Inside the flat, the boys don't move. They listen.

Knock, knock.

'' _Il y a quelqu'un ?_ '' she asks.

Bucky grabs his backpack and puts it onto his back, then he takes Peter's shoulder bag and tosses it to him across the room. The kid puts their wallet into the main pocket before sliding the shoulder strap over his head and onto his shoulder.

They hear a crack on the other side of the door which resembles a lot a gun being loaded.

Bucky looks at the kid and crosses his eyes. Silently, he points his metallic thumb to the window and Peter nods.

The kid doesn't hesitate, not even one second, before following him through the opening in the wall and into the air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRANSLATIONS:
> 
> ''Bonjour ? Je viens visiter l'appartement !''  
> ''Hello? I'm here to visit the apartment!''
> 
> ''Il y a quelqu'un ?''  
> ''Is anyone here?''


	6. ''a perfectly mastered hypnotic dance''

Of course, none of them actually touch the ground. The young boy is quick to throw a web and catch Barnes before it's too late. They both get hissed up onto the roof of the building on the other side of the street, and Amanda Kiesany clenches her fists against her gun.

''Shit!'' she swears, and she lifts her weapon to her face, looking into the lens and aiming for them. She fires a few bullets, but they are moving so she doesn't touch anything more than concrete — but only by a few inches.

A vein pops on her forehead. She turns back from the window and faces the broken door from which half a dozen of agents are running into the flat, ready to fight. A lock of her long black hair escapes her ponytail and she brushes it off.

''They left through the window.'' she informs her men. ''Put a sniper onto the roofs. Don't let them go!''

''Yes, Ma'am!'' they immediately reply before leaving the apartment.

Amanda slides her gun strap over her head and rests her firearm onto her back before following them out.

 

* * *

 

''Sirs, I know where they are.'' J.A.R.V.I.S says, and all three men instantly freeze at the AI's panicked tone.

Abandoning their research into every corners of the small alley they are in, Clint and Steve trot to Bruce and his phone.

''They?'' the doctor asks.

''Yes, Mister Banner.'' the AI answers. ''Mister Barnes and the child are reunited.''

Steve breaths out. _Good._ he thinks. _It mak_ _e_ _s the mission easier._ If Bucky and the kid are together, the three Avengers won't have to catch one and find a way to make him trust them enough to give them the position of the other. There is no way they'll help one and leave the other into the streets. They're here for both of them. It's non-negotiable.

And a part of him is also relieved that the kid is with a responsible adult who can protect him — because there is no doubt that Bucky _will_ protect him, if the way he picked the kid up in the video is any indication.

''Where are they?'' Steve asks.

''South-west.'' the AI replies, and Clint groans. That's the other side of the town! How the hell did the kid get _the_ _re_ without them noticing!?

J.A.R.V.I.S puts onto the screen the same map which had led them to the _Place de la Comédie_ a few moments prior, but with a new slowly blinking blue point: a new objective... And the objective is moving.

''I would advise that you run to them.'' the AI continues. ''They are in trouble.''

Clint unfolds his bow in a clang.

''What kind of trouble?'' he asks.

''HYDRA kind of trouble.'' J.A.R.V.I.S urges.

The three men look at each other, all knowing what that means.

It's time to fight.

''Let's go.'' Steve prompts, and they go.

 

* * *

 

As soon as they are into the street, civilians start to run screaming. Amanda rolls her eyes. _What? Have they never seen weapons before?_ Well, maybe that's the case. She remembers hearing something about French not being allowed to have guns. Only policemen and security agents can carry a firearm, and thus _only_ during their working hours. Well, the military can have guns, too; but that's an entire other story. Oh, and the hunters. Don't forget the hunters.

Anyway, the only place where French can see guns on Mister-Everyone's hands is on TV, through American TV shows and movies.

''S-01 reports.'' suddenly echoes into her earpiece. ''The targets are heading south-west.''

''Copy that.'' she answers, and then quickly leads her troops into that direction, ignoring the panicking people around her.

She can't afford to lose Barnes and Parker again. She can't. For eight years, _eight years_ they had disappeared. Every time she got a trail, they disappeared again. She's becoming restless. She needs them, _now._ It has lasted too long.

Boss thought it was enough, that they should give up. But if they _do_ give up, they're dead. So she had pleaded, and pleaded again for Boss to let her continue the search, to let her try and save that project. She lost too much time. If she fails now, it's over. They're dead. Because useless soldiers don't stay into HYDRA. No. They get thrown away. And if they know too much, they get killed. Discreetly. No one ever know what happened to them. They just disappear the same way Barnes and the boy keep disappearing.

Without a trace.

There were even rumors about those soldiers becoming tests subjects.

And she knows everything about that project. Hell, she was next to the table, next to Boss and a few — now disappeared — doctors, experimenting onto Barnes and the kid.

If she fails, she dies. And believe it or not, she would very much like to stay alive a while longer.

''Ma'am!'' one of her men shouts- and she just has time to take a step back before a metal arm swings at her from the corner of the street.

Barnes' fingers only slips on her arm and the sniper shoots. The bullet bonces onto the metal, living only a faint trace of impact, but it's enough to make the man jump backward and away from Amanda.

Pretending her heart wasn't exploding in her chest from the fear caused by the surprise attack, the woman puts on a calm face and smiles.

''Ah, Barnes.'' she greets, clasping her gloved hands together. ''Long time no see.''

She looks around her. Apart from her, her men, and Barnes, there is no one in the street. All civilians ran away when they approached. Good. They have all the alley to themselves. How nice.

But the civilians are not the only ones missing.

''Where's the boy?'' she asks him, but Barnes doesn't answer. He just frowns at her, his expression becoming more and more hateful every second that passes.

Amanda sighs, pouting.

''Don't look at me like that. I don't have him... yet.'' she smirks.

Barnes takes a step back before lifting his arms into a fighting stance.

''Oh, you wanna play? I can play too!'' she mocks, her bright green eyes widening in excitement. She quickly grabs her gun, aims at the man, and fires.

Her men immediately follow her lead and attack.

 

* * *

 

No.

No way.

He told him to stay hidden, yeah, but he isn't going to stay hidden.

Bucky was fighting _nine_ people. Nine _fucking_ HYDRA agents, god _damn_ it. No matter how strong the man is, there is no way he can win this without injuries... especially knowing he was already injured and hadn't even scared yet.

There is _no fuc_ _k_ _ing way_ Peter is going to let him fight alone.

''You ready?'' he mutters to Venom.

'Let me kill.' is all they answer, and Peter jumps into the street.

 

* * *

 

Steve is the first one to arrive, but that's to be expected of him and his super-serum. He can be as fast as a car, if he put all his strength into it — and, of course, that's what he did. And... he may have scared a few passerby with how fast he was going. Oops.

He had to leave Clint and Bruce behind, as they obviously couldn't keep up with this speed. But he needed the map, too, so he has Clint's phone with him — the archer was particularly worried that he would break the device, and threatened him to kill him if it got even just one scratch — leaving them with Bruce's.

He is all alone, now. But that's worth it if it means seeing Bucky again faster.

And Bucky is here. _Just here._ In the middle of a fight he seems to have trouble winning-

So Steve quickly pockets the phone and strikes the first man he can. The agent doesn't see it coming, as he was focused on Bucky, and Steve hits the back of his neck. The man falls to ground, unconscious, and his gun slamming onto the floor echoes loudly into the alley. The few soldiers not punching or shooting at Bucky when it happens turn to him, incredulous. They clearly weren't waiting for back ups.

A woman standing a few feet away from the fight looks at him- and her expression of rage at being disturbed nearly makes the great Captain America take a step back.

''Wha-'' she starts, but she cuts herself. ''Oh, whatever. We'll take you down, too.''

Then she fully turns to face him, aims her gun, and fire.

Steve ducks and rolls onto his side, hiding behind a large trash can, and the bullets only hit metal.

''Fuck you!'' the woman swears, and he barely stops himself from answering with a 'language!'. That's not gonna make the situation better.

He can't see the fight, from here, and the smell is awful; but at least he is safe from bullets. However, he can't stay here either. He needs to stop this, needs to help Bucky.

God, _Bucky_. He still has trouble believing it, but it's true...! Bucky is-

A large metallic trash can flies above their heads, somewhere. It falls onto the ground with a deafening _bang_ , crushes three HYDRA agents in one go, and spills its content everywhere.

The woman shouts at him.

''Will you show yourse-'' and then her voice disappears.

Steve exit his small hiding-spot and- an agent luges on him, so he lifts his fist and strike him. He aims for the head, as it is the fastest way to knock someone down, but his opponent ducks so he hits a shoulder instead. The agent stumbles back, his shoulder dislocated... and probably broken, too.

Ah, super-serum. How powerful it is!

Steve quickly turns in the direction of the woman, or where she was last time he saw her. And... she's not here. He looks right, left- still not here. So he looks down, and then he sees her.

She has one knee on the ground, her gun a few feet away from her, and she is holding her left arm with her right hand. She's bleeding, and her face expresses a mixture of pain, surprise, and _hate_. She's looking at-

The kid.

It's the freaking kid.

Steve blinks.

The kid is fighting alongside Bucky, their combined attacks a sign of how much they're used to fight together. They dodge, strike, jump and protect each other in a perfectly mastered hypnotic dance. And it's working, they're taking control of the situation again.

So Steve jumps back into the fight and-

An arrow flies above his head and hits an agent in the back. Steve turns to the entrance of the alley. He smiles, and Clint smiles back, already putting another arrow in his bow.

''You took your sweat time!'' Steve calls.

Clint rolls his eyes and shoots an arrow at the woman still on the floor. She quickly takes her bloody hand away from her gun before the arrow can pierce her. The pointy stick bonces onto the ground, unused, so Steve takes it and plants it into someone's leg. The agent falls down in a scream.

The fight is slowing down, the number of agents still up narrowing.

''You-'' the woman starts. She's so furious her face is slightly turning red, the color making her green eyes stand out. She's losing her fight and she doesn't like it. But, really. Who like to lose?

''Stay put!'' Clint says, pointing another arrow at her. Bruce tentatively appears behind him, fidgeting a little. His eyes darts around the fight, trying to gauge if they need the Big Buy, but they don't, and he visibly breaths out. He may be the strongest Avenger as the Hulk, but as Bruce he only is a scientist with a few basics in self-defense.

The woman scowls but lifts her hands in a peaceful gesture, faintly grimacing when her injury is moved.

Then she claps her hands together.

Someone fires from the rooftop and everything stops. The only two agents still up freeze, looking at each other, and for a few moments nothing move-

Until Bucky crumbles to the ground.

The kid's shout of rage is covered by the woman maddened laugh and the child runs to her and all Steve can think is _Bucky is down please be okay and what is this black thing on the kid's arms and oh god he's going to kill her_ -

So Steve runs too — knocking the two agents left unconscious as he goes — and gets to her just a few seconds before the kid. He gets between her and the child and lifts his arms in front of him in a defensive posture. The kid strikes him, and the force of it nearly makes him slide back on the ground. But Steve is prepared for that. He remembers how hard the kid had hit him when he first got a hold of him — this child is _strong_.

So Steve just plants his feet firmer onto the floor and stands his ground.

Then it's over, and the kid takes a few shaky steps backward. He's breathing heavily, clearly exhausted, and Steve's mouth open wide. The child's has scratches here and there, as to be expected of someone just out of a fight. But... his right thigh is opened in a straight horizontal line. The injury is so profound that the bone is apparent and the flesh _jiggles_ at every step he takes.

 _How can he even be standing?_ _That must be so painful_ _._ Steve thinks, and then a black moving thing sizzles onto the injury and covers it of slime, hiding it from view.

Steve recoils and chooses to look at the kid's face instead- which is also covered in black. His eyes, nose and mouth are visible, but the rest of him is covered, and _moving_ , and Steve tries not to look too surprised or worse. _Disgusted_.

For a few moments, no one says anything. They just look at each other, gauging each other, and catching their breaths. Steve doesn't move, doesn't do anything to make the kid wary of him. He wants to help him, not scare him away.

''Have you any idea-'' the woman suddenly shouts behind him, making Steve jumps. He doesn't leave the kid's gaze, however, trusting his friends to take care of her. ''Do you even know who we are!?''

Clint drops his aim and walks to her.

''Shut up.'' he says, and bangs his bow onto her head. She falls unconscious.

Finally. Some peace.

And then Bruce takes a few tentative steps forward, hands held high in front of him, and talks to the kid.

''I am a doctor.'' he says, and nods to Bucky on the ground. ''I can help him.''

The kid frowns and take a step back, closer to Bucky behind him. He nearly loses his balance with the movement but he quickly catches himself. _God._ He's just a kid, he shouldn't be in this state...!

And Bucky. Bucky- has... a needle, stuck into an arm? Yes, that's a clearly needle. Steve breaths out. Bucky isn't unconscious because a bullet hit a place it shouldn't have, he is unconscious because he was _anesthetized_.

Steve doesn't know if he should be thankful for that or not, because, while it means that he isn't _dying_ , it means that HYDRA wanted them _alive_. To do what, he doesn't want to know. But he is sure it is not to talk about boys over a cup of tea.

''Please.'' Bruce continues. ''I could save his life.''

But the kid says nothing. Then-

''Can he even understand English?'' Clint wonders aloud, and Steve nearly facepalms himself. How hadn't he thought of that? Bucky can speak English, that's a certainty. But they don't know if the kid does. He could've spent his whole life in France and never spoken to Bucky in English, for... whatever reason. Discretion? Maybe they didn't need to? Who knows?

So he stands up straighter, hands still where the kid can see them, and opens his mouth.

'' _Il est médecin._ '' he says, vaguely gesturing to Bruce at his side and trying not to visibly grimace at his own terrible accent. '' _Laisse-le aider Bucky. S'il-te-plaît._ ''

And the kid _reacts_.

He shakes his head and lifts his fists in front of him, ready to fight.

'' _Non._ '' the kid says. '' _Je ne vous laisserai pas le toucher._ ''

And a small dog, a small white and gray puppy, really, suddenly barges into the alley and barks at something in the sky. Another needle comes flying over their heads and hits the child on the upper arm.

''No!'' Steve shouts, running to the already swaying kid.

He hears, behind him, Clint shoot an arrow at the sniper onto the roof, as the kid falls into his arms, eyes closed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRANSLATIONS:
> 
> ''Il est médecin.''  
> ''He is a doctor.''
> 
> ''Laisse-le aider Bucky. S'il-te-plaît.''  
> ''Let him help Bucky. Please.''
> 
> ''Non.''  
> ''No.''
> 
> ''Je ne vous laisserai pas le toucher.''  
> ''I won't let you touch him.''


	7. ''cereal bars and chocolate snacks''

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags have been updated.

He is hidden under one of the large food boxes there was around here. It does not always smell good, and his sensible nose sometimes blows because of it; but it has food in it, and that is all that matters. He needs food or else his belly hurts, and he does not like the sensation. Plus, food makes him stronger, and it is easier for him to climb here and crawl there to find more food.

Food is good.

He looks at his dirty paws in front of him and lets his fluffy tail sweep the floor. He tries not to tremble. There is humans outside. A lot of them. And they are fighting. Humans were always fighting. They always throw a rock or another strange thing at him, to make him go away. Humans don't like him. They never help him.

Humans are not good.

Even to each other.

But dogs are not good to each other either, they always try to take each other's food. Well, except his mother. She was very nice. She left them most of the meat, to him and to his brothers and to his sister. But his mother is not here anymore, and neither are his brothers and his sister. So he is alone.

If he stays hidden, the humans may not find him, and he will be able to leave after they are over without getting hurt. That's a good plan. Stay hidden. He'll do that. His tail sweeps a littler faster.

And then the food box under which he is hidden _flies_.

He barks, surprised, as he sees a human with a strange arm lift the box and throw it away. That is impressive, he has never seen any human do that before...

But now he is in the open and another human, a black one, is coming closer and closer to him and the human is so big he is going to get _hurt_ -

Another human, different from the one with the strange arm and the black one, suddenly stands between him and the black human. The black human hits the other human and the other human hits back. The black human falls to the ground and stops moving. The other human immediately fights another human after that.

The other human saved him. He is safe. So he runs away from the human fight before another-another human can get to him. But he does not go far. He does not know why, but he stays at the corner of the pathway and looks at the other human as it keeps fighting.

The other human has something _dark_ within it. Something not good. Something mean and dangerous. Something that he feels — he _knows —_ he should run away from. But the other human just saved him, he can not be all that dark. The other human has something dark and evil, but it is nice, it helped him. This human is good, so he stays here and watches it.

Then the humans stop fighting, and they bark at each other that strange way humans do. The dark human is standing between the human with the strange arm and other humans. The human with the strange arm is on the ground, unmoving, and the dark human is clearly trying to protect it- so he is sure: the dark human is a nice human.

They bark for a long time, and then he _feels_ danger again.

But not him. He is not in danger. The other human is. The dark human is in danger.

So he runs out of his hidden-spot and barks a warning. An other-other human looks at him in surprise. Then he sees a small thing flying and it hits his human. His human does not stay up long and falls. It is caught by other-other human — a nice one, he feels. No dark thing inside of it. But his human is not well, so he jumps next to it and growls and barks at the other humans.

Do not hurt it. Do not hurt it. It is nice. Do not hurt it.

In the end, the humans took him with his dark human.

 

* * *

 

He remembers the first time he saw Peter use his super-strength.

Well, he knew from the beginning that the kid had a few 'special abilities'. With the slime-y thing inside of him, he was bound to have a few supernatural powers. That's normal. He already knew the kid could scream so loud he could be heard miles away, and that he could also stick to things — and that was scary, at first, because the first thing he saw the kid stick to was Bucky _himself_.

They were at a gas station, lost in the middle of a desert, taking advantage of a really simple plan that always earned them a bit of food and a few dollars. Not very ethical but it worked.

A car arrives. Peter pretends to be a lost child. The kid distracts the driver and whoever else is in the car, while Bucky steals what's in the car.

Not ethical, but it worked.

So, they were at a gas station, lost in the middle of a desert, when a truck arrived. The vehicle had on its sides an advertisement for some kind of cereal bar and chocolate snack, and Bucky's eyes opened wide.

There was _food_ inside this truck. A lot of food.

''We'll go for this truck.'' he said to the five years old kid in his arms. ''You remember the plan?''

Peter nodded and tried to make a thumb up — which he failed, as his index finger wasn't bent into a fist. It instead looked like he was counting up to two.

''Food inside?'' the kid asked, eyes bright with curiosity. Bucky smiled.

''Yeah, food inside.'' he replied before putting him down. Then he turned away and pretended to look for something into a vending machine while the kid walked to the truck.

For a few minutes, nothing unusual was heard. Just the cries of a few birds, the humming of the vending machines, and the faint blaring of a rock song inside the store. Then-

A metallic crunching sound.

Bucky immediately turned back to Peter and- Peter. Had...

The fucking _truck's back door_ in his hands. The thing was crushed between the child's fingers and _completely detached_ from the vehicle.

Oh god. What had he gotten himself into?

Bucky ran to the kid while looking around him for witnesses, but there was no one. The gas station was desert, except for the vendor inside the shop and the truck's driver... who was also inside the shop — he probably went inside without seeing Peter. The music inside the small store was so loud no one heard what just happened outside.

Really, sometimes, they had the best luck ever.

''What are you doing?' he scolded the young child. The kid's proud face slowly turned into a more guilty one. ''You can't rip truck's doors off!''

Peter let the metal doors drop onto the floor, which made another loud sound. Bucky grimaced.

''But-'' the kid started. Then he pointed to the, now open, interior of the vehicle. ''Food inside!''

''I know.'' Bucky replied, kneeling in front of the kid. ''But we need to be discreet, remember? This is too much.''

Peter nodded.

In the end, they took as much cereal bars and chocolate snacks as they could before running away — because it would be a waste to not take advantage of such a situation. The candies lasted them three weeks.

And, even if he was sometimes tempted to — because, the first time, it ended so well! Why wouldn't it end well again? — Peter never ripped car's door off again.

 

* * *

 

Bucky smiles, the memory bittersweet in his heart. It had scared him, at first, to see Peter do such a thing. It could have led HYDRA to them! But it didn't, and instead, it gave them a few free candies.

How could feel bad about that?

What he feels, however, is groggy.

Wait- What the fuck? Why the hell does he feel _groggy_?

Oh yeah, right. _Anesthetic._

He opens an eye, and then the other, and stares at the ceiling.

Ah. Peter must have brought him inside a building. They're still in Montpellier, thought. There was no way a teenager carrying a full-grown man without any trouble through Spain's border would have gone unnoticed. They can't be far from where the fight had taken place.

He tries to sit up and- misjudges his strength.

He pushes himself on his arms, but his normal and very human arm is _weak_. His metallic arm, however, functions perfectly. The imbalance leads him to be rolled onto his side by his stronger arm, off the bed and onto the floor.

He falls face-first onto the carpet with a soft _boom_ , and groans.

 _I'll stay here a littler bit longer._ he decides. _Just long enough for the fucking anesthetic to give me my strength back._

So he lays there, on the floor, and doesn't move. He waits, and waits. And waits again. He realizes then that it's weird that his ribs don't hurt. He was shot, remember? He's certainly not healed, as he can't have been asleep _that_ long. But, hey, _anesthetic_.

And then, _finally_ , he can feel his toes... And his ribs. So he pushes himself on his arms — slowly, this time — and when nothing strange happens, he fully stands up.

He looks around him, but doesn't see the kid. Peter isn't here, sleeping in a corner somewhere, or talking to Venom, like he always do when Bucky is injured and he has nothing else to do. The kid is nowhere to be seen, but Bucky doesn't think much of it. Peter probably went to the bathroom, he'll be back soon.

The room is beautiful, colorful but relaxing. He didn't really care when he was on it — because he fell _off_ it pretty quickly — but the bed seems comfortable. There is white towels neatly folded and carefully put onto the floor to leave the bed free. The walls are decorated with paintings of, probably famous, Montpellier's monuments. It all looks like-

A hotel room.

Bucky frowns.

Why would Peter bring him in a _hotel_? A teenager bringing an immobile full-grown man through the reception isn't more discreet than through Spain's border _._ Plus, money is precious to them, they can't just spend it like that as soon as one of them is unconscious. And Peter _knows_ this, or at least, is supposed to know.

Oh god, Peter. What have you done?

''Because we're a team!'' a male voice suddenly shouts from outside the room, and Bucky immediately takes a defensive posture.

He doesn't recognize the voice. It's not Peter. Bucky's heart beats faster, providing his body with oxygen and readying it to fight.

So that's the reason why he is in a hotel room! It isn't Peter's doing. Someone else brought him here.

So where is Peter?

He quickly looks around the room for a weapon of some sorts, but there isn't anything sharp in here.

Of _cours_ _e_ they would super-human-proof the room. They can't let him have something to fight with, can they? Wait- then why haven't they taken his metallic arm off? That's always the first thing HYDRA agents try to do when they catch him. They're never successful, though. They're always stopped by Peter, Venom, or Bucky himself. Bucky sometimes had nightmares about when they would finally manage to do it, because it would put an end to their freedom. Everything would be over, to him and to Peter, because he won't be able to fight. And how could he take care of a _kid_ if he can't even defend himself?

Well. There may be no sharp object here, but there is a lamp on the bedside table.

And the lamp has a power cord.

That, he can do with.

He's not as good with ropes as he is with guns, knifes, or just his arm, but he does know how to strangle people with one. Even if the lamp's cord isn't a rope — obviously — he can still use it to strangle someone... If it doesn't break on him first.

Bucky walks to the bedside table and unplugs the lamp. Its small light immediately turns off. He takes the cord and pulls on it a little, testing its strength. It resists the test and Bucky nods. It'll do. He doesn't try to pull the lamp off its cord, though, because it may be useful to hit someone on the head, if he can't put the wire around a throat.

Now armed, he goes to the door as quietly as he can, and tries the handle. Of course, the door is lock- What.

It opens.

_What?_

Really. HYDRA is becoming more and more stupid every time. But, anyway. It's open. It's one thing less to take care of. He shrugs and open the door a little bit wider. He looks into the small opening, but there is no one. Just an empty corridor. He fully opens the door and exits the room. On his right is the rest of the hallway and a few other doors, probably other rooms.

Now that nothing is blocking the sounds, Bucky can hear people talking on his left, where a light gray curtain separates the corridor from whatever room is on the other side.

''Okay, okay.'' one of the voices says. Its a male voice, it has an American accent, and it sounds exited. ''How do you say... hum... 'Hawkeye's the best archer ever'?''

''Clint...'' another male voice breathes, also with an American accent, and this one sounds exasperated.

''I'm not translating that!'' someone else objects. It's also a male, an American one — even if this accent sounds a little odd. An old man, maybe? This one is offended.

''Oh, come on!'' the first one replies and- let's call him Number One.

Bucky exits his room and slowly walks to the curtain, trying the be as silent as possible. He smiles at those guards' stupidity. They're clearly not taking they job seriously, as they aren't even guarding his _door_ , which also wasn't _locked_. Since when does HYDRA hire soldiers like that? Well, good for him. It'll be easier to make his escape. But..

Something is wrong, very wrong. HYDRA isn't like that. They're not the kind to take their job lightly, they have too much secrets to take the risk. Bucky hopes that Peter isn't involved in it somehow. Maybe they're holding him in a cell and menacing to torture him if Bucky doesn't do what he's told, and _that_ is something HYDRA would do. If they do something to his kid, he _swears_ -

''No. I'm not doing that.'' the old man insists.

Bucky counts three voices, so three persons, but there can be more. Someone could be here without having said anything. But he doesn't hear any other sound — a footstep, the clank of forks and knives against a plate, or even one's loud breathing — which could confirm the presence of a fourth, or even a fifth. So he just goes for three. He'll improvise later, if he needs to.

''You're not fun.'' Number One says, then he hisses under his breath, ''Old man.''

That confirms the fact that the weird-American-accent guy is an old man. But it doesn't change anything. Sure, old people are weaker, but not in HYDRA. Oh, no, they aren't weak. He remembers the grandma-

''I heard you.'' Old Man says, and he hears someone chuckle — probably Number Two.

And Bucky has heard enough — well, this conversation was leading nowhere anyway and it held no interesting information for him — so he runs through the curtain, puts his cord around the closest man's throat, and turns to the other two while carefully putting himself behind his hostage, for protection.

''Where's my kid!?'' Bucky demands loudly, and he feel the man against him gulp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter may be posted a bit late, as I'm not done writing it yet. Have a great day :)


	8. ''dozens of tiny pieces''

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags have been updated.
> 
> Well, seems like it's on time, in the end... Right, it's a few hours late, but- hey, it's still Tuesday! . . . For me, at least. I don't know where you are in the world, but here, it's still Tuesday.

Steve looks at Bucky, blinks, and then holds his hands up in front of him. From the corner of his eyes, he sees Clint's fingers getting closer and closer to his gun, hidden in his waistband.

''Don't.'' he tells him, and Clint stops moving, but the archer frowns at him. _We must deal with this calmly._ Steve wants to say, but he can't. He can't because Bucky is right here in front of him, conscious, full of energy, _alive_ , so very real, and-

Threatening Bruce.

Bucky looks right at him, right into Steve's eyes, but the distrust and the anger don't leave his face.

''Where. Is. My. Kid.'' the man repeats, tightening his hold onto Bruce. As a response to the danger, the Hulk starts to appear. The transformation doesn't begin yet, though. Just a few green streaks, here and there, onto Bruce's arms, temple, and neck; visible where the doctor's hands are not covering his throat. His fingers are scratching at the cord — the lamp is still attached to it and hanging around Bruce's waist — trying to hook at least one nail under the wire to pull it away, to allow him to breath more than a few wheezes.

It doesn't work, and Steve knows he has to resolve the problem quickly, or they will also have a Hulk to deal with.

Wait- ' _my_ kid'? So it's true, then? The child is indeed Bucky's son? That would explain why Bucky is so protective of him, why he's so intent on getting him back. That would also mean that there is a mother, somewhere, but that's a question for another time, as Bruce is _currently being strangled_.

The kid isn't in danger, but Bucky doesn't know that, has no way of knowing since Steve hasn't being able to talk to him about his son yet. And maybe it would be easier if the man wasn't threatening Bruce!

''Bucky?'' the super soldier tries, keeping himself immobile except for his jaw which he need to talk. ''It's me, Steve. Steve Rogers, remember? Your best friend, a few years ago.''

 _A few?_ Ah! It has been more than _seventy years_!

Bucky's eyebrows frown in confusion, but the expression quickly disappears for the anger and distrust again. He doesn't believe him, it's like-

Like he doesn't remember him. Like he doesn't know him. Like Steve is a _stranger_.

Steve's heart _hurts_ with the realization as Bucky threatens again. _What had HYDRA done to him?_

''If you don't give me my kid back, I'll kill your friend!'' the man demands. And Clint takes a step forward, hands visible in front of him, like Steve's, while Bruce's own fingers are still trying to grasp the cord.

''We're on your side.'' the archer says.

Bucky doesn't move.

''And how can I be sure of that?'' he asks. ''How can I be sure you're not tricking me? It wouldn't be the first time.''

Clint shrugs, and Steve hurts a little more. In his memories, Bucky is a man of trust, in both ways. People trust him, and he trusts in return. He never was suspicious of anyone's motives, even if it was an enemy. If a German, during the war, claimed he didn't want to fight anymore, Bucky would have let him go.

But now, he doesn't trust them. He doesn't trust _Steve_ , the man he knew for, basically, all his life. The man who had never let him down. Never...

Never. Except that one time, when he fell. That one time when Steve wasn't reactive enough. Steve wasn't fast enough, and let him down. Down, down into the precipice.

 _He has every right to not trust me anymore._ Steve thinks.

''Well, you can't believe our words.'' the super soldier admits, holding Bucky's gaze — because it's his fault, he knows it, and he's going to take responsibility for it. ''But you can believe our acts. Look around you. If we were HYDRA and we wanted to capture you, would we bring you into a hotel, with a nice room, a nice bed, and _unlocked doors_?''

Bucky frowns and looks down to their shoulders. Not into their eyes, but not far enough from their faces for him to be unable to react immediately at the smallest change in their posture. He stays prudent, and silent, for a few seconds, clearly thinking about what has just being told. And yes, it's true. Steve, Clint and Bruce aren't working for HYDRA. They work for the Avengers, they _a_ _re_ the Avengers, and their mission is to help as many people as possible. Even if these people don't want their help.

When Bucky's eyes lift again to meet their gaze, there is no hesitation in the light brown orbs.

''Where is my kid?'' he asks again, but his voice doesn't hold as much hate as it held before, and Steve counts that as a small victory.

''Your son is fine.'' Steve answers. ''He's still asleep.''

Bucky frowns.

''Asleep?''

''Yes.'' the super soldier nods. ''He was also hit with an anesthetic and it hasn't worn off yet. He's _fine_.''

''Where is he?'' Bucky inquires, and his hold on the cord lightens. Not enough to let Bruce go, though. Just what the doctor needs to breathe normally again.

And Bruce immediately takes advantage of the situation and hooks a finger under the wire. He immediately sucks in a large breath and adds as much digits as he can, making sure he is able to protect his throat if Bucky decides to tighten the cord around him again. However, the doctor doesn't try to take it away. He doesn't know how Bucky would react, and he can't do anything with his fists if he has to fight. Meaning: Hulk is his only way out, but if he transforms into a closed space such as this room, everything will quickly go south.

So, no. He's not moving, but having his hands on the cord bring the feeling of danger down, at least, and the green streaks become fewer. But they don't disappear.

''In a room, down the corridor. Third door left.'' Steve replies.

And Bucky lets everything go.

The lamp crashes onto the ground and the light-bulb breaks in dozens of tiny pieces. Freed, Bruce quickly walks away from his attacker and toward Steve and Clint. He is breathing heavily and holding his neck in a protective reflex, while Bucky turns away into the corridor he came from. The man pushes the curtain on the side and goes through the opening. Steve goes after him and sees how the man open the third door and barge into the room.

The small dog immediately barks at him.

 

* * *

 

The Old Man- sorry. Steve Rogers. He introduced himself as Steve Rogers. Steve Rogers is standing in the doorway, one hand onto the door frame — preventing his friends from coming in — and the other floating around his hip — not menacing, but not entirely relaxed either. He seems wary of him, like he isn't sure if he can trust him or not- and he shouldn't. He shouldn't trust Bucky because he doesn't know him and Bucky is very capable of attacking him at the slightest sign of danger. He has no pity, no mercy.

If that Steve-guy reveals himself to be dangerous, Bucky will kill him. And his friends, too. Because he is under the impression that if he tries to kill Steve, his friends will try to stop him.

 _Like they could stop me._ he mentally snorts.

The only reason they got him in the first place is because someone shot him a fucking _anesthetic_. If he were in possession of his whole strength, Steve and his friends wouldn't have gotten him and Peter.

Peter... They seem to think that the kid is his son, and he doesn't try to argue with this. Because, first: the less they know about them, the better. Second: while, biologically speaking, Peter isn't his, Bucky is still the one who raised him. So, in a sense, he is his father.

The kid is on a bed which seems as comfortable as his own bed was when he woke up. His eyes are closed and he is breathing normally. He doesn't seem to be in pain, which calms Bucky's worried heart. That Steve-guy didn't lie, the kid is _fine_.

He takes a step forward, intending to check for possible injuries himself, when something bites at his ankle. It doesn't hurt, as the pressure is pretty weak, but it does get his attention. He looks down, and, attached to his leg, is the dog. The dog which had barked at him as soon as he had walked into the room. Bucky had ignored him, at first, because- what could a creature so small do to him? The creature is so _tiny_ he could probably pick it up with one hand. Its white and dirty fur is standing on end, and its throat is letting out a low growl.

It clearly doesn't like him.

Bucky turns to Steve at the door.

''Can you take your dog back?'' he grunts, and the Old Man looks at him in confusion.

''I thought it was yours...'' he slowly replies. ''I mean, it didn't stop trying to attack us until we stepped away from your son, so... Yeah, we thought it was yours. Whose is it, then?''

Bucky looks down again at the dog.

''Not ours.'' he just says, and he lightly shakes his foot to try and make to puppy let go. But it doesn't bulge.

Oh, _whatever_. he sighs. The thing is clearly not strong enough to be dangerous anyway, so Bucky ignores it and keeps walking. The dog slides onto the floor at every step the foot takes, and it tries to stop him by hooking is claws onto the carpet, but it doesn't work. Eventually, Bucky reaches the bed — the puppy still munching and growling at his ankle — and he pays attention to his kid, while also keeping an eye onto the three strangers by the door.

Peter is laying under a thick blanket which doesn't cover his chest movements. The kid's breathing is strong and regular, and he isn't sweating nor frowning in pain. Good. Bucky places a hand onto the kid's forehead — the dog growls a bit louder, the man just ignores it — No fever either. Well, it's not like the kid can get sick with Venom inside of him, but they never know what's inside a HYDRA needle. It's better to be careful. When he takes his hand away, the dog immediately calms down.

Now, let's see if there is anything hidden under the blanket. Bucky grabs-

The jaws close a littler harder on his ankle. Bucky drops the fabric and sighs.

He won't be able to do anything with this distracting thing attached to him.

So he leans down, pretending his ribs don't hurt — he is _not_ letting three strangers know about his injury — and picks the dog up with his human arm. He uses his metallic fingers to work the jaws open, and as soon as his ankle is free, he lifts the creature up before it can latch back onto him. The dog barks and growls and wriggles and-

Oh. It's a male. Yep. No mistake possible. It's a male.

Bucky turns back to Steve.

''Sure you don't want him?'' he asks, and Steve shakes his head. He is still by the door and hasn't taken even the smallest step farther into to room.

''No, thank you. It doesn't like any of us.'' he says, gesturing to his friends behind him.

Hidden behind the other two, Bucky can see his former hostage rubbing at his throat. He didn't go easy on him, and his neck is red. The thing will probably turn blue in the next hour or so, and the bruise will stay for some time. But no way he'll apologize. Nope. He did what he had to in order to protect his kid. And if he had to do it again, he would do so without any hesitation.

Kid first. Strangers next.

Number One is the other man, the one who was ready to pull a weapon out of his waistband when Bucky strangled Number Two. He'll have to be careful around him, as he seems to be as merciless as Bucky himself. The man probably won't hesitate to kill him if it means protecting his own friends.

Bucky knows firsthand how dangerous a man can be if it means protecting his loved ones.

Because Bucky is one of these men.

Old Man, in the end, isn't old. He is a blond man with blue eyes who is clearly working for peace, avoiding fights whenever he can. His face seems familiar, but Bucky can't remember him from anywhere. He doesn't know why, when he talks, Old-not-old-Man sounds like a grandpa. He is the only one that has a name, the only one who introduced himself.

Steve Rogers.

The name sounds familiar, too.

Well, there is also a 'Clint', somewhere. But he has no way of knowing if it's one of Steve's friends or a guy they were just talking about and who isn't here.

Whatever. He has other thing to take care of than learning strangers' names. There is a fucking puppy biting at his fingers and growling at him, and he needs to check Peter for injuries.

So he walks back to the door and notices how his former hostage takes a step back, how Number One tenses- Bucky pretends he didn't notice and holds the dog to Steve.

''Could you at least hold him?'' he asks. ''I need my hands free.''

The blond man grimaces, probably already imagining all the cuts his fingers will have because of the puppy, but he still lifts his hands.

''Okay...'' he says, and he takes the dog- which immediately angrily nibbles at the new fingers.

Bucky doesn't waste any time, he walks back to Peter and-

The dog barks again.

He turns around and sees how the dog abandoned Steve's fingers to growl at _him_. Him, who got closer to Peter. Bucky frowns, and decides to test something. He takes a step away from the kid, and the dog calms down. He is still growling and wriggling, but he isn't barking as much as he was before. Then Bucky takes a stop closer to Peter and the dog barks louder.

_What...? Is this dog trying to protect **Peter**?_

Usually, animals don't like Peter. They always run away from the kid as soon as they can, as soon as they sense him. Animals have an instinct which is stronger than humans'. Bucky supposes that dogs and cats and other things are avoiding Peter because they can sense the danger in him, they can sense _Venom_. But, even if this one does sense the slime-y thing or not, it is still trying to protect Peter. No matter what dark aura the kid might have around him, the dog is trying to protect him.

_What the hell?_

So Bucky walks to the dog again and watches how he calms down.

''I changed my mind.'' he says, and he takes the puppy back in his hands. Steve looks at him strangely but he doesn't comment.

The creature is immediately biting every bit of flesh he can reach, and Bucky ignores it. He just walks closer to Peter, the dog becoming louder and louder and-

He drops the puppy onto the bed.

Immediately, the dog carefully walks onto Peter and stands on the kid's abdomen. He turns to Bucky, shows his teeth and growls in warning, but it doesn't bark or try to bite him anymore.

Bucky sighs, and he hears someone behind him swear.

Yep. If they want the dog to leave them in peace, they need to let him close to Peter. Close enough for the dog to be able to see the kid and warn off everyone who tries to come closer.

He should kick him out, he knows. That way they are sure to be left alone. But Bucky has the feeling that if they do that, the dog will just stay behind the front door and bark and scratch at it until he is left back inside.

Seems like they are adopting a dog.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is also in danger of being late... Sorry.


	9. ''in a corner somewhere''

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags have been updated.
> 
> Well. That was late.
> 
> Really, I'm already surprised I managed to post for eight weeks without being late once. That's a new record for me. However, from now on, I won't be that punctual. December and January are two very busy months for me, so I won't be writing as much as I used to be. Sorry.
> 
> Anyway! Enjoy the chapter!

Amanda opens her eyes in a dark room.

Her skull immediately aches, and she takes a deep breath. Early in her training, she understood that holding one's breath through pain is useless and can even make it worse. It makes the brain focus more on said pain than on other important body functions, such as, well, breathing.

She blinks a few times, letting her eyes get accustomed to the dark. She doesn't recognize the place, and it's not a good thing. She has no idea where she is, how long she's been here, who brought her here, why she's here-

She moves her hand to help her push herself off the ground- except that she can't. Her hands are held behind her back by something, she doesn't know what, she can't see it. She rolls herself onto her side instead, breathing in and out through the pain in her shoulder. She makes a mental map of herself.

What is painful? Forehead, shoulder, torso, wrist, thigh, ankle.

Oh yeah, right. She got into a fight. With her team. Against Barnes and Parker. Everything was going well, they could have easily won, and then two strangers barged into the alley and started fighting them. Well, there was a third one, too. But whoever he was, he had stayed pretty far away from the fight, so he wasn't really a problem. No. The problem was the other two.

 _God damn it! Why are civilians always so_ _**bothersome** _ _?_

 _But they aren't civilians._ her mind says. _Civilians can't fight, and those guys could._

_Yeah. And that's what made them so bothersome._

But even if they're civilians or not, they are the reason she failed. As far as she knows, she has been captured by them, probably taken for questioning. What an irony. She was supposed to capture Barnes and the boy, and in the end, she was the one captured.

What happened to her team? Are they still alive? She hopes so. They were good fighters, and in an other situation, some of them could have been her friends. But there is no friends in HYDRA. Only leaders and soldiers.

So. Back to the main problem. Where is she? _Use your senses._ the voice of the man who trained her echoes in her head.

 _What can you smell?_ Nothing much. Faint cleaning products; her own blood.

 _What can you see?_ Dark room; medium size; empty of people; a door on the farthest wall from her; a bit of furniture.

 _What can you hear?_ Voices behind the door, faint or maybe just quiet; a dog braking.

Touch and taste aren't really useful in this situation. There is nothing to touch that could help her out, no hidden door to find, no feelings of wind — which could have told her the outside where just behind a wall — - she can't even touch anything, as her hands are currently unavailable. There is also nothing to taste aside from the metallic flavor of blood in her mouth, and the plastic-

The plastic!

The GPS. She had forgotten about it. Well, it's not like she had ever needed it before. It's been years since it has been placed into one of her teeth. And she had never needed to bite down onto it before, never needed to activate it, never needed to transfer her position to HYDRA, never needed the help.

But now she does.

The GPS is a small metallic device covered of plastic in order to protect it from the humidity and acidic properties of saliva. It also held the advantage of being undetectable by metal detectors. The device can only be worn by important members of HYDRA. Simple soldiers don't need it, if they die, they can easily be replaced.

It's not Amanda's case. She is important.

So she works her jaw open and close, trying to find the button again. Where is it? Damn it! Then she fells something crack in her mouth and she knows she succeeded.

The GPS now activated, all Amanda could do was wait. It would take a bit of time, as HYDRA's main base was in America. She would have to wait for her signal to be received, for HYDRA to prepare a team, and then send it. And then wait again for the team to complete the ten hours fly necessary to reach Europe, and then for them to find her wherever she was on this fucking continent.

God. She was already bored.

 

* * *

 

For once, it's not Venom who wakes him up. Well, actually, it _is_ Venom, but they aren't the only responsible this time. Venom and Peter always wake up at the same time. But, while Venom is immediately aware and energized, the kid needs a few more minutes to connect with the real world again. Peter can't remember the last time he woke up on his own, with Venom silent inside of him.

'Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up.' Venom keeps repeating.

There is also something moving on his chest, but it doesn't feel like Venom.

'No. It's not me.' they confirm. Then they continue. 'Wake up.'

''You are unbearable.'' he mumbles, rolling his head to the side. Then he freezes. The movement feels weird. It's slow, and a bit sluggish. Something isn't normal. What happened?

''Hum?'' someone breathes next to him, and Peter immediately recognizes the voice.

He opens his eyes, and his gaze immediately falls onto Bucky, who is sat onto the ground next to the bed. The bed? Yep. A very comfortable bed. Way more comfortable than the simple motel beds he is used to. It's not bad, it's nice. But it's still weird.

''Hey...'' Peter greets. ''What hap-''

Remember the thing which was moving onto his chest? Well, now it's licking at his face.

Peter lifts his hands to push the thing away, but they are caught under a thick blanket. So he uses his legs to roll onto his side instead, with the intention of making whatever is on him fall _off_ him.

That's when the pain strikes.

''Oh, _shit_.'' he swears when his thigh pulses in rhythm with his heartbeat. He closes his eyes.

The thing is quickly lifted off him then, and, somewhere next to him, he hears it making some noises. Maybe growls and barks, he doesn't know- he doesn't care! Right now, he is feeling a strong pain which resembles a lot like being cut down to the bone.

'That's what happened.' Venom says.

_Oh, shut up!_

When finally, the feeling calms down, Peter opens his eyes and looks at Bucky. The man has stood up, so he is now looking down at him. It doesn't take long for the kid to recognize the wriggling thing in the man's hands.

''Is that a dog?'' he asks, using his arms to push himself up into a seated position. The movement demands way more energy than it's supposed to, and he frowns in confusion.

'Anesthetic.' Venom hisses, and Peter blinks.

Oh. Yeah. That's right. He remembers now. They were fighting HYDRA, for the second time in years — the first one being the Paris incident — when he saw Bucky fall to the ground, a needle weirdly sticking out of his arm.

''Yes. He seems to-'' Bucky answers to the kid's question, but Peter doesn't let him finish.

''Are you okay?''

Bucky sighs. The dog barks and wriggles a little more, but they both ignore it.

''Yes. Although a bit tired.'' he replies. ''But we are in no immediate danger right now, so it's fine.'' a pause. ''Actually, you are the most injured one of us. The worst is your thigh. I have bandaged it, but you'll be fine. It's just a cut, even if it's a deep one. Venom can take care of it.''

'Yes, I can.'

Peter snorts.

''Yes, they can.'' he repeats, and Bucky rolls his eyes.

The man then looks at Peter in the eyes, his expression becoming serious.

''We have more important matters at hand.'' he says.

The kid lifts an eyebrow.

''Like the dog?'' he asks, and on his proud face is clearly written 'pun intended'.

Bucky just drops the puppy onto the bed and Peter groans when it falls on his thighs. The creature immediately walks off his injury and goes to snuggle in Peter's side. The kid frowns, incomprehension written on his face.

'Aren't animals supposed to hate us?' Venom asks, their tone betraying their own confusion.

 _Yeah... They are..._ Peter replies, and he slowly raises a hand over the dog. The puppy doesn't react, doesn't even _flinch_ , when the kid tentatively lets his fingers land onto its head. Instead, it snuggles closer and closes its eyes, giving its entire trust to Peter.

The white fur is dirty, messy and tangled — the creature clearly needs a bath — but very soft. Softer than what Peter would have imagined an animal fur to be.

He loves it.

Peter blinks the wet out of his eyes before the tears can leak down his cheeks.

Then the moment is broken by Bucky's voice.

''The dog is a problem, yes, but it's not the most important one.''

_How could a dog be a problem?_

'Don't care.' Venom hisses. 'There is a more important problem. Focus.'

Really. Most of the time, he may hate Venom, but in truth, they are exactly what he needs to go straight to the point. He gets distracted so easily...!

He rubs his eye, trying to reconnect with the real world again. When he drops his hand again, he gives his entire focus to Bucky.

''What is it?'' he asks.

The man sits on the side of the bed, facing Peter. His face is perfectly portraying his seriousness, slightly furrowed eyebrows and tense lips. Whatever he is going to say, it will be important. Bucky takes a deep breath, the way he always does when he is going to start a long story, and opens his mouth.

''You may have noticed by now that we are in a hotel.'' he begins. ''A very expensive one, by the look of it.''

Peter frowns and quickly looks around him. Indeed, the bed is big and comfortable, the room is well decorated, and the door in front of him is closed. There are a few paintings on the walls, and the window on the side is hidden by light curtains. There is no dust, no mess, no stain; it's perfectly clean. But...

Why are they in an expensive hotel? Money is precious, they can't just waste it like that for a comfortable night! Especially if they're injured. The hotel staff would immediately call an ambulance if they saw one of their wealthy client in such a sate. Bucky is the one who taught him that!

''Wha- Why did you bring us here?''

''I didn't.'' Bucky simply says. ''I was unconscious too, remember?''

Peter blinks.

Of course he remembers! It has been years since they last had to face HYDRA, and when they did, Bucky suddenly fell onto the ground for seemly no apparent reason before he noticed the needle. He remembers being scared and angry. He remembers feeling Venom's own rage and want for blood, and their helplessness at not being able to come out and fight for their life, as they were still tired from Paris. He remembers running to the woman with the intention of killing her with Venom's strength, once and for all.

And he remembers being stopped. Stopped by a stranger. The blond stranger who had also stopped him from getting that wallet at the _P_ _lace de la_ _C_ _omédie_. Who the hell was he, by the way? Whoever he was, he wasn't normal. There was something different about him. A few people had already tried to stop him from stealing wallets when they noticed. It's just the right thing to do: stop a bad action whenever they can. But those people have never ran after him before. They have never followed him and stopped him from _fighting_. The encounter had always ended at the first meeting, when they saw him steal. Then he never saw any of them again.

But not the blond guy. He was still there. And he clearly is working for HYDRA if the way he had stopped him from hurting the woman is any indication.

God. How he _hates_ that woman. He doesn't know what happened to her after he lost consciousness too, but he hopes she's rotting in a corner somewhere.

Wait.

If both Bucky and him were unconscious-

''Then who brought us here?'' he asks, tensing a little.

For once, his spider-senses were asleep. There were no danger near, but there was no way they were alone. No one would just bring two unconscious strangers into a nice hotel room to then abandon them there. It doesn't make any sense. But whoever brought them here, they had no intention of hurting them... At least for now. That's how the grandma-

'No grandma.' Venom hisses.

_Sorry, sorry._

So Peter closes his eyes and uses a bit of Venom's power to enhance his hearing. Behind the door, he can hear breathing. There is people outside. Three, if he counts well. None of them are talking. He can hear one of them turning the pages of a book, another taping at a laptop keyboard, and the last one sounds asleep.

''They claim they're here to help us.'' Bucky says, perfectly aware that Peter is listening. ''There is three of them. Three men. Aside from that, the name of one of them, and the fact that the dog isn't theirs, I don't know much about them.''

The kid opens his eyes and looks at Bucky, face full of confusion. _What the hell is happening?_

''I have so much questions.'' he just says.

''Which is why I'm telling you all I know for now.'' the man sighs. ''So listen and don't speak. You can ask your questions later. Okay?''

Peter nods.

''Okay.''


	10. ''the obvious intention to bite''

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back.

So.

They were attacked by HYDRA and forced into sleep by a needle. They were then brought into a hotel by three strangers who claim to be on their side — how they managed to carry two unconscious people into an expensive hotel without alerting anyone, that's a mystery. But that's not what is important right now.

Steve Rogers is the only stranger they now the name of. And not only does he has the same name as Captain America — 'Steve' and 'Rogers' are two pretty common names — he also claims he knows Bucky. The Bucky before HYDRA. The same Bucky-before-HYDRA Bucky himself doesn't know, doesn't remember. God, he isn't even sure if 'James Barnes' is his real name or if it's just the way HYDRA calls him!

And now, just behind the door of this bedroom, stands a man who may have all the answers.

Peter can't blame Bucky for being curious, but he is afraid it may lead them into a trap. What proof do they have that this 'Steve-team' isn't another plot from HYDRA? How can they be sure if they really are who they claim to be or if they're trying to trick them?

Well, if they claim to be here to help them, then they _will_ help them... At least in the beginning, just to gain their trust. _Then_ they will try to hurt them. But in the meantime, they should take advantage of this, take as much as they can before it goes south.

So he shares his idea with Bucky. The man hasn't moved since he began his explanation, he is still sat onto the bed, facing a frowning Peter.

''That's what I was thinking too.'' he replies. ''Plus, they claim to know who I was before-'' he waves his hand in front of him, ''-all this, and I want to know. Even if it's all a lie, that's a chance that may not happen again.''

Peter nods, smiling.

''Let's not waste it, then.''

A small thankful smile appears at the corner of Bucky's mouth and he takes a breath.

''I-''

Peter suddenly tenses and the dog growls.

Immediately recognizing the signs, Bucky shuts up and listens. Behind the door, there is movements, so he stands up and turns to face it. Peter slowly moves his legs over to leave the bed, but the pain reminds him that he _can't_. He bites his lip and muffles a groan. The dog licks at his hand before growling at the door again, and Bucky quickly spares him a look. The kid is in no state to fight, and the man knows it.

Someone is walking toward them, the heavy boots they wear aren't really discreet as they stomp onto the ground at every step. The shadows of the stranger's feet appear under the door and stop there. For a few seconds, nothing moves. Even Venom is silent inside Peter.

_Knock, knock, knock._

''Hey, hum...'' the stranger says, hesitant. ''I brought food.''

Bucky turns to Peter and waits for the kid to nod. Peter seems unsettled, but, in the end, he accepts the venue of the stranger. He will have to meet them anyway, at one point or another, so the Bucky walks to the door and opens it.

It's the blond man, holding in his hands two plates with a sandwich in each one. The dog growls a bit louder when it sees him, but everyone in the room ignore it. Now that he isn't in the middle of a battle, Peter can really look a him, and indeed, he looks a lot like Captain America. He has the same face from the one on the photos, the sames eyes, the same hair,... The same everything!

But it's just a coincidence. Captain America isn't in France. He isn't even in Europe! Someone as famous as him can't be here without people knowing about it. He is so easily recognizable he would immediately be in the newspapers and on TV as soon as someone spotted him so far from New York.

The blond man smiles politely and his eyes falls onto Peter on the bed.

''Oh, you're awake!'' he says, walking into the room when Bucky steps aside. ''How are you feeling?''

Peter frowns. This man is a good comedian, his tone sounds genuine, like he really cares about the kid's well-being. But Peter will not be fooled by that. He doesn't know what is in these sandwiches, maybe they're poisoned. Bucky seems to be cautiously eyeing the food, too.

But the blond man seems to misinterpret his hesitance.

''Oh, yeah, French.'' he mumbles to himself, but Peter can hear him. '' _Comment vas-tu ?_ '' he translates.

Peter's eyebrows shoots up on his forehead, nearly disappearing under his disheveled hair, while Bucky's own eyebrows frown. The man looks at him, and the kid discreetly shrugs.

'Does this blond man not know that you can speak English?' Venom hisses.

_Seems like it..._

'' _Je vais bien..._ '' he slowly replies. This is not really the truth — he is not fine at all, as he has _a hole in his tight_ _—_ but he doesn't want a stranger who could be dangerous to know about his injury.

The blond man breathes out.

'' _Je suis heureux._ '' he says, and Peter mentally winces at the wrong phrasing. But the message was understood, he is glad the kid's fine, so Peter just nods.

These strangers... don't know that he can speak English. At least the blond man doesn't, so there's a high chance that the other two don't know either. And that's- a really good thing! He could sit with them, pretend he doesn't understand a single word, and spy on their entire conversation! He could learn things he wasn't supposed to and easily confirm that these strangers are indeed HYDRA agents.

He didn't plan for this, really, but he is _not_ telling them he can understand them. Nope.

When they spoke to him during the fight, just after he failed at killing the damned woman, Peter's world was turning around him. The ground was moving and the buildings seemed to be getting taller and taller. He had lost so much blood at the time that he couldn't concentrate on what they were telling him. Venom screeched at him to focus at the exact same moment the blond man started using French, and he reflexively answered in the same language.

Then everything went black.

The blond man lifts the plates in front of him. A tomato slice falls out of one of the sandwiches in the movement, but the stranger doesn't notice.

''Are you hungry?'' he asks Bucky.

Of course, it's Peter's stomach that answers. The low growl coming out of it shuts the dog's own noises, and the kid quickly puts an arm around him, hiding his belly from view. He frowns at the stranger, daring him to say anything.

When was the last time he ate? Somewhere in the train, he thinks. As soon as they arrived at Montpellier and found a place to hide, Peter was out pick-pocketing. Then out to fight. Then out. Just out cold. How long was he gone? A couple of hours? More?

'Don't care.' Venom hisses. 'I need the energy to heal you so I can kill them. Eat.'

_What if it's poisoned?_

Peter _swears_ he can hear them sigh.

''Here.'' the blond man says, and holds the plate out for the kid to take.

Seeing the stranger so close to Peter, the dog barks and trots forward with the obvious intention to bite. The kid puts a hand onto it and the dog stops, though it still growls and shows its teeth at the stranger.

Slowly, because he doesn't know what else to do, Peter raises his other hand and takes the plate. His eyes doesn't leave the stranger as he turns back to Bucky to give him to second plate. The man takes the food with as much mistrust as Peter, and the blond man frowns like he doesn't understand the hesitation, but he doesn't say anything. Peter carefully puts his own serving down onto his lap, and Venom angrily sizzles onto his fingers.

'Eat!'

Peter ignores them.

The blond man lingers into the room. His eyes travel between Bucky and Peter, waiting for them to take a bite. When none of them does, he sighs.

''Alright.'' he says, and he takes Bucky's sandwich and bites into it.

Bucky takes a step back, closer to the kid, as he observes the stranger chew and swallow the food before putting the sandwich back onto the plate. Then he lifts his arms on his sides, palms facing them, and looks at them with so much openness Peter is quickly reminded of Bucky when he first told him about his past — or lack of past, actually.

The blond stranger looks at them like he has noting to hide.

''See?'' he says. ''Nothing. I'm completely fine.'' Then he lets his hands drop. ''There is just salad and tomatoes in this sandwich, nothing in it can hurt you. Unless, of course, you are allergic to something — which I know you're not!'' he adds, facing Bucky. ''I don't know about your son, but I know _you_ 're not.''

Bucky lifts an eyebrow, surprised that the stranger knows this. That's when Peter makes the connection. The blond stranger is the Steve Rogers he was just informed about. The one who knew Bucky-before-HYDRA. And Peter can't fool himself anymore.

There is too much coincidences with this blond man, too much for it to only be simple coincidences. The blond man who looks like Captain America and has the same name as Captain America, may very well be the _real_ Captain America. The Captain America who protects everyone against HYDRA and other evil forces.

Then he really is on their side.

Peter looks down to his sandwich on his lap. He lifts the bread and looks inside. Indeed, there is a piece of lettuce, a few tomatoes, and even a slice of ham. It's a pretty normal sandwich, if you ask him.

'Eat!' Venom hisses again, and for once, Peter doesn't argue.

He picks up the sandwich and takes a bite. It's not especially good or bad, it's just- normal. Bucky looks at the kid with attention, waiting for something to happen. But when Peter swallows and looks at him with a smile in his eyes, Bucky turns back to the blond man.

''Thank you.'' he politely says, and start to eat his own sandwich.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRANSLATIONS:
> 
> ''Comment vas-tu ?''  
> ''How are you?''
> 
> ''Je vais bien...''  
> ''I'm fine...''
> 
> ''Je suis heureux.''  
> ''I'm happy.''
> 
> . . .
> 
> Wow. I never thought I'd be writing so much about a sandwich before!


	11. ''between apostrophes''

Peter is leaning against him, one arm around the man's neck. He can't stand on his own yet, Venom just started healing him. The sandwich gave them a bit of energy, but Venom can be way faster! But both Peter and Bucky suffer from malnutrition, they eat what they find and it's not a good diet. Especially for the kid who needs to eat a lot more, because a good part of the energy offered by what he swallows is given to Venom. With a better diet, who knows, the thing could be energized enough to go out only a few hours after his last escapade!

It's been two — maybe three — days since Paris, and Venom still has trouble healing Peter's thigh.

That's how tired hey are.

He lowers the kid onto the white couch of the living room and sits next to him. The dog quickly hops onto the seat to lays next to Peter, his eyes never leaving any of them for more than a few seconds. Steve and one of his friend are sat in front of them. The third one is in the kitchen, 'preparing tea', he said. Bucky doubts he will drink it. He doesn't trust them. He looks at Peter — the kid's twiching fingers proves that he clearly doesn't trust them either — but quickly turns his attention back to the strangers.

For a few minutes, nothing happens. They wait in silence for the third stranger to come back from the kitchen. When he finally appears, he has in his hands a wood tray holding a bowl of hot water, a bowl of sugar, a few tea bags and enough cups for all of them. He gently places the tray onto the small table of the living room, between the two groups. He fills every cup with water before putting them in front of everyone.

''Thank you.'' Steve says when he receives his.

The stranger just smiles at him before picking a tea bag and putting sugar into his own cup. Then he sits next to the blond man who opens his mouth.

''So.'' he starts. ''You already know my name, but you don't know theirs.'' he gestures to them man on his left. ''This is Clint Barton, he is known in the Avengers as Hawkeye.''

''Hey.'' Clint says, raising his spoon full of sugar at them before dumping it into his cup. Then he turns to the third stranger, looking over Steve between them to see him. ''Are you sure there wasn't any coffee?''

The tea maker just rolls his eyes.

''Yes.''

''This,'' Steve continues, gesturing to the other man on his right. ''Is Bruce Banner. His alter-ego is the Hulk.''

''Hello.'' Bruce smiles.

Bucky nods at them, before quickly translating everything into French for Peter and introducing them to him, again.

Really, pretending he can't understand English? One of Peter's brightest ideas.

The only problem is that he'll have to translate everything, every time, to keep up the pretense. He's already tired of it.

Peter then turns back to the blond man in front of him. As far as Bucky knows, Steve is the only one of them who knows French — with a horrible accent and mistakes everywhere, but it's still French.

'' _Et toi ?_ '' the kid asks. '' _C'est quoi ton nom d'Avenger ?_ ''

Steve smiles.

''Captain America.''

Bucky sees how Peter then discreetly grabs and squeezes his leg, just above the cut. This is something the kid sometimes do when he's trying to keep something in check, mostly Venom. But the light in his eyes tells him that it's not the slime-y thing the kid is trying to fight this time. Nope. And when Peter turns to him, Bucky understands.

This is the same look he had when he was younger, when they came across a TV, visible through some shop windows, and there was a super hero on the screen.

_He looks like he has seen a celebrity._

That Steve-guy must be something if he can get this look from his kid.

 

* * *

 

Bucky abruptly stands up from the couch, an angry look on his face. Surprised by the sudden movement, the dog jumps onto the kid — who he _still_ doesn't know the name of, Steve realizes — and barks. The boy winces when it walks on his thigh, but he doesn't show any more pain. _God, how st_ _r_ _ong is this kid?_

''What?'' Bucky exclaims. ''No! We're not going back to America, this is where HYDRA is!''

Steve stands up, with more calm, while Bruce immediately picks up his cup of tea before someone knocks the table down. Clint just rubs his face, his own drink abandoned onto said-table.

''But you'll both be safe with us-'' Steve tries. He doesn't get to finish his sentence, though.

''And how can I be sure of that?'' Bucky argues. ''What proof do I have that you really are who you claim to be?''

Steve grimaces, he already told him that! But at that time, Bucky was more focused on his son's safety that his own...

''You have nothing.'' he concedes. ''Nothing but our actions. If we really were HYDRA, do you think we would be letting you walk around freely?''

Bucky snorts.

''It wouldn't be the first time!''

_Oh god-_

There's a story behind that simple sentence, Steve knows. He doesn't know how long HYDRA has been trying to get them, who knows what they did in hopes of succeeding? If the hard way didn't work, they may have tried the soft way. And sometimes, the soft way is crueler.

''We're _not_ going with you!'' Bucky adds, probably to make sure he is understood.

The kid is looking at them, frowning like he doesn't understand. And how can he? He doesn't speak English. His gaze is going from his father to Steve, then to his father again. Concern flows from his stance when his attention is onto Bucky, while Steve only receives distrust and incomprehension.

Steve turns back to Bucky and sighs.

''If you come with us, I'll tell you everything I know about you.'' he promises.

Bucky looks at him with even more hate. Sensing the change, the kid's more curious gaze gains extra animosity towards him.

''You- are you, _bargaining_ this? _Really_?''

''Yes.'' Steve nods. ''And I didn't want to do this. But it's either it works and you willingly come with us, or I chain you both and force you into our jet, straight to America.'' He is _done_ with this bullshit. There's no safer place in the world than the Avenger Tower. Even SHIELD can't get in! Tony's programs and J.A.R.V.I.S.' own watch won't let any unauthorized people inside.

Bucky's hands turn into fists and faintly tremble at his sides. He is ready to fight if he needs to, and one thing Steve can't deny is his friend's strength. If he wants everything to end without a single punch, he'll need to speak carefully.

''Why are you doing this?'' Bucky asks. ''If you're not HYDRA, then _why_ are you 'helping' us?''

Steve can clearly see the 'helping' between apostrophes. He sighs, the anger calming down. Bucky doesn't trust him on purpose, he just doesn't remember him. He probably doesn't remember anything from before... the accident. Since then, he has been running away from HYDRA with a kid, knowing he can't trust anyone, because anyone could be an undercover HYDRA agent. Anyone could be trying to hurt them both.

But let's be real. If Steve was in his shoes, he would have trouble accepting anyone's help too, not knowing who is trustworthy and who isn't.

''Because we're friends.'' he answers in the end. ''Or at least, we _ha_ _ve been_ friends. You were my best friend before all of this happened.'' Steve feels his gaze turn determined. ''I failed you once and I'm _not_ failing you again.''

Silence falls into the room. No one speak, but there is still noises. The dog growling next to the kid, Bruce's foot taping the ground while trying to breathe and just drink his tea. Bucky frowns and looks down, clearly thinking about Steve's words. Clint isn't moving, he is leaning onto his knees, tense and ready to fight if the need arise.

The archer stands up, then, and crosses his arms.

''You don't really have a choice anyway.'' he says. ''I will personally tie you up if we need to. And believe me, the trip will be way more comfortable, for all of us, if we don't have to do that.''

Steve nods.

''You're going to the Avenger Tower with us and that's it.''

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRANSLATIONS:
> 
> ''Et toi ?''  
> ''And you?''
> 
> ''C'est quoi ton nom d'Avenger ?''  
> ''What's your Avenger name?''


	12. ''protected like princesses''

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I didn't update last week, AO3 just wouldn't work! Well, it could be my college bad internet connection that is to blame, but it worked perfectly before- it IS working perfectly right now, so... I don't know. Anyway, chapter 12 is now online. Enjoy!

The door opens, and Amanda looks up from her position on the ground. Two feet tranquilly walks to her, and she turns her head up to better see the person in front of her.

''Oh, hello.'' she smirks to the civilian who knocked her out during the fight. Oh, she can't _wait_ to kill him. ''Is it time for my food?''

The man rolls his eyes. He bends over her and grabs her by her shirt, lifting her up a few inches from the ground. The change of position makes her dizzy. Yep. She definitely has a concussion.

''We're leaving.'' the civilian says.

Her blood turns cold at the words. HYDRA will come save her, yes... But they'll come _here_ , in whatever building she is. And she won't be here to be saved! HYDRA will come for nothing, break a few things, and then check the signal again to make sure it wasn't just a software bug. And only _then_ they'll notice that she had been moved.

Her immediate signal is only available at the base, where the screen showing her position would have been used to show something else, as her coordinates would have already been given to the soldiers. She's not a specialist of computers, but she thinks it's this way to protect HYDRA's informations. The signal might be harder — or simply impossible — to hack if it's protected into HYDRA's base, whereas if it's out there, with the soldiers moving around, hacking it might be easier.

She knows this way of doing things is stupid, it makes getting an important agent back harder! She tried to talk about to it Boss, but, of course, he didn't do anything, as there were more pressing matters.

Before she can answer the civilian, the man lifts a hand above her head and strikes her.

 _I hate you all **so** much._ she thinks before her world turns black.

 

* * *

 

He can't believe it. _He can't believe it_ _._ They have Kiesany- they have the fucking woman who had been chasing them for _years_ and they didn't kill her. They didn't end her life and Peter's and his suffering with the same act.

It's not that the strangers don't want to be the ones doing it, otherwise Bucky would have no problem crushing her skull between his metallic arm and a wall himself. No, the problem is different.

''We don't kill.'' Steve said.

Meaning:

As long as she's under the strangers' watch, she's not going to die.

_Damn it._

It's not like he didn't try. When he saw that Cliff guy — or Clark... Or something like that — take her unconscious body out of another room, he had tried to kill her.

Survival instincts, he can't be blamed!

But Steve got between him and the devil, and they all fought. Three against one. Usually, he would have no trouble incapacitating three highly trained HYDRA agents in a minute, but these strangers are weirdly _strong_. He had no chance. One minute he was punching someone, and the next his arms where held behind his back by a rope he had no idea where it came from. Steve strength resembles a lot Peter's, in the way that they don't look particularly powerful, but they could lift a car with only two fingers if they wanted to.

These guys were not kidding.

The kid was smart, though. He didn't join the fight, even if he clearly wanted to. But what could he have done? Peter's participation wouldn't have changed anything, as the kid couldn't even stand without suffering. It was best for him to stay out of it, and that's what he did.

Now, in the plane, Peter was the only one free of his movements.

_Well..._

It's the first time either of them are in a plane to travel, and Peter is glued to the window — the dog napping on his lap — watching the clouds and sea with wonder in his eyes.

_I don't think he'll be really useful as long as we're flying._

Bucky shrugs, it's not like they can do a lot anyway. Neither of them can fly a plane, and if they jump out, they'll just fall into the ocean, in the middle of nowhere, with no idea where to go, and spending their energy just to stay afloat. So yeah, they're stuck in a plane, with three strangers who claim to be on their side, and on their way to America.

_Shit._

But Bucky would really like his hands free. This position is uncomfortable.

So he turns to Steve, but instead, his eyes catch Kiesany, still down from whatever Clark gave her to knock her out. And she's just a few rows behind him, so close- yet she's too far. He can't even stand up from his seat without Clark pushing him down again with a hand on his shoulder, so what could he do to her?

Then the plane starts to tremble, and Peter suddenly turns back to the interior of the cabin. His eyes which held wonder a few minutes prior now contain uncertainty. He doesn't seem scared, so at least, Venom isn't screaming 'danger!' in his head, but he isn't comfortable either. He opens his mouth and Bucky can already hear the question in English he's going to ask, but then he closes it and frowns. His gaze falls onto Steve who sees it and guesses the unspoken question.

'' _C'est juste des turbulences._ '' he says. '' _Ce n'est pas dangereux et ça_ _passe_ _tout seul._ ''

Peter nods and goes back to cloud-gazing.

The plane finally settles down.

It's silent. So very silent. No one is saying anything- even the dog isn't making any noises! Bucky's back hurts, and he can see Peter occasionally scratch his thigh which is probably itchy from Venom's healing. The man is _bored_. There is nothing to do except move around the seat to try to relieve the pressure of the ropes around him.

It doesn't work.

''Hey.'' he says in the end. He waits a few seconds for Clark to look up from his phone before continuing. ''Free me.''

Clark snorts.

''Why would I do that?''

''Why wouldn't you do that?'' Bucky automatically replies, and mentally winces. This is the kind of stupid replies he gives the kid sometimes, not strangers! If he could facepalm, he would.

Peter turns to face the conversation and Bucky sees the laughter in his eyes.

 _You better not laugh out loud, kid!_ he thinks. _You're not supposed to be able to understand this discussion._

Clark rolls his eyes.

''Because you are dangerous.'' he says. ''You tried to kill this woman, and you gave me a black eye.''

Like Bucky cares about the black eye.

''I have good reasons for all of that.'' the man says.

''Which are?''

''None of your business.''

Peter hides his smile behind his hands and turns his face back towards the window before someone can see him. _Except the window reflects his image_ , Bucky realizes, and the kid seems to realize it too as he quickly bends in half and hides his face into the dog's dirty fur instead. The puppy doesn't protest.

It's Steve who speaks next.

''We won't free you until we are at the Tower.'' he sighs, and Bucky glares at him. ''You'll both be safer at the Tower than anywhere else in the world.''

''Yeah. Protected like fairy princesses held high up in a tower!'' he retorts, and is surprised to see Steve look away, a pained expression on his face.

''I know you don't trust me.'' he says. Then he turns back and looks at Bucky in the eyes. ''But I won't let HYDRA get either of you.''

Bucky stays silent.

''By the way.'' Steve adds, clearly changing the subject. ''I never asked: what's his name?''

The man raises an eyebrow.

''The dog?'' he asks, nodding to the puppy on Peter's lap. ''I don't know.''

Steve shakes his head, smiling.

''No, though I would like to know too. I meant your son. What's his name?''

Bucky frowns. He sits up straighter and quickly glances at Peter before returning his attention on Steve. The kid is looking at them, an expression of curiosity on his face, which will probably be interpreted by the strangers as a 'what the hell are they saying?'.

''Why don't you ask him?'' Bucky replies. ''He's right there.''

Steve blinks, and turns to Peter.

''Oh right, sorry.'' he breathes.

Bucky mentally smirks. The stranger has already forgotten Peter's presence, as he supposedly can't understand them. Which means spying on them will be even easier, as they already leave their guard down. Soon, they'll be able to confirm if they really are who they claim to be or if they are HYDRA agents in disguise.

Bucky can't wait to kick their asses.

Steve faces the kid then, sending him an apologetic smile.

'' _Comment tu t'appelles ?_ '' he asks.

Peter hesitates and looks to Bucky before answering. When the man nods, the kid turns his attention back onto Steve.

''Peter.'' he says simply, pronouncing his name with a perfect accent. Really, learning a language from it's source: the country, can do wonders on someone's pronunciation. Especially if the person was young when they learned.

Steve's friendly smile widens.

'' _Enchanté, Peter !_ ''

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRANSLATIONS:
> 
> ''C'est juste des turbulences.''  
> It's just turbulence.
> 
> ''Ce n'est pas dangereux et ça passe tout seul.''  
> It's not dangerous and it'll pass.
> 
> ''Comment tu t'appelles ?''  
> What's your name?
> 
> ''Enchanté, Peter !''  
> Nice to meet you, Peter!


	13. ''keep your organs in place''

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I didn't post anything last week. I have no excuse, I was just too lazy to write. Also, this chapter is weirdly long compared to what I'm used to write. I don't know what happened. I just found the first part too short, so I decided to put the second part too, and all went south.
> 
> Enjoy!

****Peter didn't think he would be going back to America one day. They never had any problem with HYDRA while they were in Europe, and after the Paris incident, he was under the impression that they would just run to Asia or Africa — whichever was in the direction they were running to.

But that was before the appearance of the _freaking real Captain America_ and two other members of the Avengers.

What the hell is happening.

Peter is used to change. He and Bucky are always moving, changing places to stay hidden- but the Avengers guys are changing too much. Just a few days ago he was eating a sandwich bought by their stolen money and trying to learn Spanish from an old book, and now he is in a plane with the _freaking real Captain America_ and on his way to the Avengers Tower in America where he'll probably meet the other members of the super hero organization without even them knowing he could speak more than just French.

Oh, and there's a dog, too. He has no idea where it came from nor why it lets him pet it, but there is a dog, now.

'Hungry.' Venom suddenly hisses out of nowhere, and Peter keeps his gaze to the window, watching the clouds below him.

 _I know._ he thinks back, but what can he do? He doesn't know how fast a plane is, so he doesn't know how much he'll have to stay here in silence with nothing to do. For all he knows, it could be days. Well, the ship which first took them to Europe spent _months_ on the journey, and while a plane is faster, he doesn't know _how much_ faster.

'Hungry.' Venom repeats, and Peter ignores them.

The puppy wriggles onto his lap, trying to get more comfortable, and the kid winces when one of its paws brushes his injury.

And of course, Captain America notices.

'' _Ça va ?_ '' he asks, walking between the seats to reach him.

Peter just nods, then looks down at his thigh to avoid Steve's gaze. He carefully rubs the painful area, and the thin fabric of his sweatpants — previously kept with other clothes of his into his bag — lets him feel Venom's presence over the cut, trying to heal him.

It's still painful and itching, but he could probably walk by now, as the muscle may be mostly repaired. However, strangely, he's not really in a hurry to try.

'I could be faster with food.' Venom says.

_I know._

'He's coming closer.' they then add.

Peter lifts his head, and indeed, Captain America is still walking towards him. But why? He just told him he's fine!

'' _Laisse-moi voir._ '' Steve says as an answer to the kid's silent question- and Peter can't help it, he flinches away, gluing his side to the window.

Captain America may be the hero he was always fanboying about when he was little, always jumping in excitation when he saw his picture somewhere, always playing his battles with wood sticks and rocks as Steve and his enemies-

But now that he was in front of him, Peter couldn't help but be cautious, because while he knows everything about the hero, the man behind the mask was a just another stranger, and Peter grew up always expecting the worst from strangers.

So no, he's not letting him check his injury, especially since Steve doesn't know about Venom who is already healing him. Slowly, yes, but they are healing.

They both sense his sudden tension, and by _both_ , he means Steve and the dog. The latter lifts its head to look at the man, showing yellow teeth and growling lowly. Captain America stops a few steps before him, eyeing the dog cautiously, like he knows it could bit his fingers off if it wanted to. In the end, Steve seems to choose to ignore the danger and takes a step closer to the kid.

The dog growls louder while Peter shifts closer again to the window. The kid lifts distrustful eyes towards Steve.

 _Don't come any closer._ he thinks, and he feels Venom half-disappearing from his thigh to sizzle onto his arm, hidden under his long-sleeved-shirt.

Steve opens his mouth, probably to try to reassure him, but Bucky, sat on the other side of the plane, interrupts him.

''Leave him alone.'' he says, his eyes visible over his headrest.

Captain America turns to him.

''I just want to see if he's healing correctly.'' he says, and the concern in his voice sounds so real Peter doesn't know if it's true or if the man is just a good actor.

''He is.'' Bucky simply replies, and he turns back to the front of the plane, the conversation clearly over for him.

But not for Steve.

''You can't know without checking!'' he argues.

''Listen.'' Bucky starts, facing Captain America again. One of his eyes twitches in irritation. ''I'm the one who have been traveling with him for _years_. I know him. He can heal, now leave him be.''

Steve doesn't seem convinced, and Hawkeye chooses this moment to exit the pilot cockpit.

''Let it go, Cap.'' he says, walking all the way down the aisle to check on the woman. He puts a hand on Steve's shoulder when he passes by him then bends over one of the seats to look at the still unconscious lady. ''Bruce says we're approaching anyway.'' he adds. ''We should be there in an hour.''

 _An hour? Wow, planes are really fast! I wonder how they work, mechanically speaking. Maybe I could build a miniature one, remote controlled._ the kid's nerd side says, and Peter swears he can feel Venom roll their inexistent eyes so far into their head one would only see white.

Steve looks hesitant, eyes moving between Peter and his friend next to the woman, to Bucky on the other side of the plane. Finally, he seems to understand that no one wants him to make sure the kid is okay. He doesn't look happy with the fact, but he lets it go — he's probably cautious about a fight breaking out into an enclosed space.

Sighing, he walks away from Peter. The kid relaxes slightly, the dog becomes silent but still watches the man with careful eyes, and Venom silently leaves his arm to cover his thigh once more.

''I'm gonna warn Tony we're arriving.'' Captain America mumbles, making his way towards the cockpit where the communication systems probably are. ''Or else he'll try to shoot us down... Again.''

Hawkeye snorts behind him.

''Why?'' the archer asks. ''I'm sure Jarvis already did.''

Peter blinks and Steve is facing the back of the plane. He turned so fast to Hawkeye that the kid didn't even _see_ him move.

 _Note to myself._ he thinks. _Do **not** underestimate him._

Of course, he already knows he shouldn't underestimate him, as he knows all Captain America did as a hero. But seeing his power in real life is totally different than seeing it on a shaky video filmed by a witness of a fight and then broadcasted on TV.

''That's what you thought last time and we lost a jet!'' Steve accuses, and one of the archer's eyebrows twitches.

''Hey! How was that supposed to know Jarvis couldn't hack into three HYDRA bases and six SHIELD computers _and_ warn Tony we were coming _at the same time_!?''

''Even he has his limitations!''

Peter and Bucky share a look. _These, are the Avengers best fighters?_

Hawkeye rolls his eyes, and sighs heavily.

''I'm sure Tony updated him since, so it's fine.'' he shrugs, and a vein pops on Captain America's forehead.

That's where Peter's mind stops because _update_? That would mean he was right, there _is_ a robot... Somewhere. He hadn't seen it once since they were with the Avengers, and the kid is still wondering where the hell it is.

'Don't care.' Venom says again.

_I know you don't but I do so shut up._

However, the answer as to where the hell is the robot comes to him when its British voice suddenly rings into the plane.

''Indeed.'' it says, and the kid can almost hear the amusement in its voice. _Almost_ because robots don't have emotions. ''I was updated thrice since this mission, and I would also like to inform you that I've warned Mister Stark we were arriving.''

The robot doesn't have a body. It's just a fucking program, probably living into the Avengers' phones and computers, and maybe in the plane to. And, if he correctly understood all that was unsaid, 'Tony' is the one in charge of making sure it works correctly- hell! He probably even is the mind behind this creation!

_This is so cool._

And wait. Tony and Stark, they said. As in Tony Stark, the Iron Man?

Peter has to press his fingers against his injury and cause pain in order to keep himself from fanboying in front of them. He isn't supposed to understand anything they were saying, _keep your organs in place!_

'Stop this, it makes my work harder.' Venom hisses angrily, so Peter lets go of his leg.

_Sorry._

Hawkeye just smirks at the robot's input.

''See?''

''Will you just stop, already!?'' Bruce's voice suddenly echoes from the cockpit, and both men turn silent. ''Now is not the moment for your bickering!''

For a few moments, nothing else is said. The only noise present is the rumbling of the plane machines. Finally, Captain America sighs before looking into Peter's direction and informing him of he situation.

'' _On approche, on sera là dans une heure._ ''

Peter nods.

 

* * *

 

The sun is setting when Bruce lands the plane into the Tower Hangar, situated just under the roof which opens to let them through. The engines stop, and as the door opens to let them leave the plane, Clint hauls the woman onto his shoulder and goes out first. Steve walks over to Peter and offers an arm to help him walk- but the kid stands up — his shoulder bag slung over his shoulder — with nothing more than a wince and limps towards Bucky, the dog held against his chest with one arm while his other hand presses against the seats to keep himself up.

Steve is so surprised he just stands there and watches him.

The kid would have had his leg _cut in half_ if it were not for the bone which stopped the shot from detaching the limb from the rest of his body. And it was _less than a day ago_ , how is Peter able to walk right now!?

 _He can heal._ Bucky's voice echoes in his head, and Steve realizes that the man was right. Not only is this kid strong, he also have some kind of healing power.

What happened to them while he thought Bucky was dead?

Something not fun, he bets. As far as he knows, gaining powers like the ones the Avengers members have is _not fun_. Clint has to hide his wife and kids in the countrysides to keep them alive, Natasha was mistreated in her childhood during her formation, Bruce turns into a large green monster every time he has a strong emotion which makes his pulse quicken, Thor lost his brother and was close to lose his father too while trying to save his own realm, Tony was betrayed by the man who practically raised him when the Iron Man project started showing results, and Steve lost his best friend as well as seventy years not long after his painful transformation.

He would also bet his own arms that whatever happened to them has something to do with the black monster from the Paris video Tony showed them.

Bucky stands up, hands still held behind his back — so the kid takes the man's own bag and puts it on his back — and Peter holds Bucky's upper arm with his free hand and leans onto the man to keep himself up. The dogs growls when it notices the point of contact, but the kid just rubs the fingers of his arm holding it into its fur to calm it down. All that without a single word.

_They must have lived a lot of things together._

Steve walks after the two guests out of the plane, and from his position behind them, he's in the prefect place to see them tense when they spot the rest of the Avengers in the hangar, here to welcome them.

They both stop where they are, Bucky a step in front of Peter. As the least injured of the two, he seems to be the one the Avengers should be cautious about, especially as he is protecting someone. But Steve knows better.

No one should underestimate the kid.

Unsurprisingly, it's Tony, as the curious and cheerful man that he is, who starts the conversation.

''Hey!'' he basically shouts, his voice echoing into the hangar. ''Welcome to the Avenger Tower and Steve why is your guy tied up?''

From subject A to subject Z, without going through the other letters before. This is how Tony is. His mind works so fast his mouth has trouble following sometimes, changing the focus of the conversation in one sentence.

Steve sighs, used to the man's weird behavior.

''He didn't want to follow us.'' he simply says, and winces when he realizes he basically kidnapped his best friend and his best friend's son.

''So you attached him.'' Tony deadpans, clearly implying the same thing.

Steve avoids his eyes.

Natasha takes a few steps forward and looks at Bucky and his son. Knowing her, she's probably trying to assess their level of dangerousity. Then her eyes fall onto Bucky's metallic arm.

''I approve.'' she says as plainly as if she was tasting a new recipe.

Tony turns to her.

''Hey!-'' he starts. His offended expression then fades into boredom. ''Why am I surprised, of course you do...''

Steve ignores the bickering and faces the genius engineer again.

''I wouldn't leave them there.'' he explains. ''It was too dangerous, HYDRA is after them.''

''What, HYDRA, really?'' Tony exclaims, somehow... _exited_? about the information. ''At least that's a good reason to keep them here! They're safer here than with SHIELD. Fury will be pissed...'' he claps his hands together and gives Steve a bright smile. ''Awesome!''

And while Steve rolls his eyes, Bucky opens his mouth.

''Stop talking like we aren't here.'' the man growls, slightly pushing against his rope.

And just like that, the attention is now back on them. Thor walks towards them, then, a hand already lifted in front of him and a huge friendly smile on his face.

''Sorry, my friend.'' he says. ''My name is Thor, I'm happy to finally meet you!'' He stops just before stepping onto Bucky's feet and waits for the man to shake his hand as per Earthling's customs.

Steve nearly facepalms his own forehead, but Tony doesn't bother to try and stop himself to. The slap resonates through the hangar and no one moves. A few seconds of silence after the end of the echo, Thor seems to finally realize that Bucky can't shake his hand as the man's hands are _currently bound behind his back_.

''Oh, sorry.'' the god simply says before turning his attention onto Peter instead, hand still up in the air. ''Nice to meet you too.''

Bucky and Peter share a look that Steve can't decipher. The kid then puts his whole weight onto his good leg and slowly lets his father go. He hesitantly raises his hand to Thor's level and takes it. The shake is pretty normal, except for the lack of wince when Thor inevitably squeezes too hard, and Steve is once more reminded of how strong the kid is.

Peter lets go and grants a small smile to Thor's huge one. Steve walks to Bucky's back and notices how the man slightly turns his head to keep an eyes on him. The hero pretends he didn't see anything and detaches his old friend's bounds. Why keep him restrained? He's now too far from Europe to go back to it, and the Tower is so large and well-protected Steve doubts the man would even know how to get out.

The dog, as usual, growls when by getting closer to Bucky the hero also gets closer to Peter. Steve, as usual, would ignore it in order to save his fingers but, of course, Tony doesn't let him.

''Is that a dog I love dogs what's its name?''

Steve rolls his eyes.

''I don't know.'' he sighs.

The reaction is immediate.

''What the fuck- anyway, where are my manners?'' There. A new topic.

Steve is kinda glad for the change. The dog doesn't like him, and it's starting to become mutual. How long before the whole Tower hates it too?

''My name is Tony.'' the engineer continues, then he points to the woman next to him. ''This is Natasha.'' then he shows Thor. ''And Thor. You've already met Clint- where did he go?'' he asks, realizing the man isn't in the hangar with them.

It's J.A.R.V.I.S who answers, and Steve doesn't miss the way the kid jumps when the AI's voice suddenly echoes into the large room.

''He left to put the woman into a cell.''

Tony turns toward a camera in a corner just long enough to wave his incomprehension before focusing back on the main problem.

''What the fuck- what woman? Anyway! I'll think about that later. Where was I? Yes- this is Bruce and Steve.'' he completes, pointing to the other two men and ignoring the fact that they probably already know their names by now, knowing they were in the same plane for _more than ten hours_. ''So, I know your name.'' he says to Bucky, and then turns to point to the kid. ''But not his, what's your name?''

Peter frowns at Tony when addressed to, and Steve realizes he forgot to mention a small detail.

''He doesn't speak English.'' the hero quickly explains.

Tony's day seems to be getting better and better. Steve can already see his mind running a thousand miles per hour.

''What, really? I'll have to work on a translator then, until we either learn- what can he speak?''

''French.''

''Fancy.'' the engineer smirks. ''So, until we either learn French or he learns English. Bruce help me.''

The shy doctor shrugs.

''Okay.'' he says, his fate already accepted.

Natasha crosses her arms and looks away, pretending to pout.

''I don't want to learn French.'' she complains. ''It's troublesome.''

Tony turns to her, an eyebrow raised and frantically waving a hand in front of himself.

''I thought you could speak a lot of languages and French was one of them!'' he protests.

''It is.'' she smiles.

Bucky and his son exchange another look, and Steve is suddenly under the impression that he missed something. Something important. But what? He doesn't know. Without somewhere to start, he has no way of knowing. He will have to ask Clint and Bruce if they noticed something too. But right now, he can't. They all have things to do — Clint isn't even here with them! — and, more importantly, Bucky and Peter are right next to him. He can't do anything right now. God, it's frustrating!

The engineer blinks.

''Then why-''

''To mess with you.'' Natasha answers.

''I hate you.'' he grumbles.

''I know.''

It's Thor who then turns the conversation back onto the important topic.

''We still don't know his name.'' he says, nodding to the kid.

Steve rests his hands on his hips.

''It's Peter.''

Tony turns toward the kid, probably happy to finally be able to put a name to a face.

''Nice to meet you, Peter!'' he smiles, then his face becomes serious again. ''Now. I have work to do. Bruce, with me. Steve, give them a tour.''

Steve nods, while Thor faces the engineer.

''I'd like to come too.'' he says.

Tony raises an eyebrow.

''What, with me? I'm sorry Point Break, but I don't think technology is your thing.''

The god's smile doesn't waver.

''No, no.'' he waves a hand in front of him. ''To show them the Tower. I would like to see how Earthlings do visits.''

The engineer blinks, then shrugs.

''Oh, okay. I don't think it's really different, though.'' a few seconds. ''And it's not me you should be asking, it's him.'' he adds, pointing to Steve.

The man pointed at frowns.

''Tony, it's your Tower.'' he argues.

But the engineer is already walking towards the door, Bruce behind him.

''Not a fan of responsibilities!'' he calls.

Steve frowns. Tony has basically being in charge of everything — especially Tower-related things — since the very beginning of the Avengers. Sure, there were times were things were complicated, and Tony was close to giving up, but he never did. So what is he talking about?

Then Steve realizes.

''Are you saying Thor is under _my_ responsibility, now!?'' he shouts before the man is too far to hear him.

He knows Tony heard him, but he receives no response.

Thor turns to him, confused.

''I don't understand, are people considered responsibilities in Earth?'' he asks.

This time, resisting the urge to facepalm himself is harder. Don't get him wrong, Thor is a good person. A really nice and well-intentioned person. But even though he's been on Earth multiple times already, and every time for a longer period, the man still has a lot to learn about Earth customs. By putting Thor under Steve's responsibility, Tony basically gave Steve the babysitting mission. Great.

Thankfully, Natasha spares him the need to answer Thor's involuntarily complicated question.

''I'm gonna check what this woman is about.'' she says.

And when Tony's voice resonates from the door, Steve knows the man heard him earlier.

''What woman? Oh, yeah, right. Jarvis, status about that woman.''

Steve sighs. Sadly, his day is far from over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRANSLATIONS:
> 
> ''Ça va ?''  
> ''Are you okay?''
> 
> ''Laisse-moi voir.''  
> ''Let me see.''
> 
> ''On approche, on sera là dans une heure.''  
> ''We're approaching, we'll be there in an hour.''


	14. ''two hundred and fifty people''

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes. I know. Like last time, part of this late update is that I was lazy. The other part is my computer deciding to act up and turn off by itself while I'm using it. I brought it back to the shop for repair, and until I get it back, I have to write - and publish - on my phone.
> 
> You have no idea how much I hate that. I find it so incomfortable! Where's my large keyboard?
> 
> Fé bour' a ou, computer.
> 
> (No, that last sentence wasn't French. No need to try Google Translate - this language doesn't exist on the website. I'm just wishing my computer a good trip to hell.)
> 
> Enjoy the chapter!

Peter bites his lip at the scene unfolding before him. People’s bickering are always funny to watch, because even if they treat each other that way, they all know they’re joking because they all love each other.

Peter often pesters Bucky, too. The man rolls his eyes and pretends to be annoyed while the kid makes fun of all he can find. It’s a nice way to pass the time during long trips, when they slept so much they can’t anymore and they only have boredom left to keep them company.

But right now, at the Avenger Tower, Peter doubts they’ll be bored any time soon.

Captain America sighs when everyone leaves the hangar, abandoning the four of them under the plane. Thor turns to Steve and looks at him with big, excited puppy eyes.

"What are we starting with?” he asks.

Steve focuses his attention back onto them.

“First,” he says “The tour will have to wait. We’ll be going to the main lounge and eat something. We’ve been flying for more than ten hours and I’m sure they’re hungry.”

‘Food!’ Venom happily states, and for once, Peter agrees.

Steve glances at Bucky, then turns back to Thor and pats the big man’s shoulder.

"You don’t mind?”

Thor only smiles.

"No, of course not.”

"Good.” then Steve takes a step closer to Peter and Bucky, distrustfully eyeing the growling ball of dirty fur in the kid’s arms. “The lounge is a few stories under us. Can Peter walk or do you want me to help?” he politely asks.

Peter lifts an eyebrow, pretending to recognize only his name in this sentence, and turns to Bucky like he’s waiting for a translation.

“I can carry him.” Thor adds, and Peter grabs his thigh to stop himself from snorting.

This weird guy will be _so_ fun to be around. He seems _so_ easy to mess with.

Captain America, of course, notices the gesture, and for a split second Peter is afraid he just got his cover blown. But Steve only looks at his leg with pity, probably thinking the wound is hurting.

_Thank god for stupid guys!_

Bucky shakes his head at the stranger’s proposition and puts one of his now free hands around the kid’s arm, supporting his weight.

“We’ll be okay.” he just says, pretending the dog nibbling his fingers doesn't bother him.

A few seconds pass before Steve nods.

“Then let’s go.”

 

* * *

 

In the lounge, there is a few couches, and the first thing Bucky does is help his kid lower himself onto one of them. He drops their bags at Peter’s feet then he turns around and observes the room.

The lounge is large, so large it could easily fit around two hundred and fifty people comfortably. There are doors along the walls, exits to other rooms, and the way in which they came in faces tall windows taking up the entire wall. New York is beautiful from this height and probably even more at night. On one side are the couches he left Peter on, all facing a big television screen hung onto the wall. On the other side stands tables and seats, places to eat, and a bar. Behind the bar, beside the shelves holding glasses and bottles, is an open archway which gives access to what Bucky assumes is the kitchen.

And he seems to be right because when Steve slips inside, he quickly comes back with plates filled of food. How did the blond man manage to cook this fast, Bucky has no idea.

"It’s just leftovers, I’m afraid.” Steve says, unknowingly answering Bucky’s question. “Nothing fancy, but it’ll do.”

Steve places the plates onto one of the tables, and, leaving the bags by the couch, Bucky helps Peter walk to a chair before taking a seat for himself. Steve and the-large-man-which-Bucky-doesn’t-remember-the-name-of also sit with them, each with their own leftovers in front of them.

And ‘nothing fancy’ his ass. When was the last time he ate food this good? The kid seems to enjoy himself too, gulping down as much roasted potatoes as he can. It will be good for him, Venom needs the energy to properly heal Peter. The slime-y thing seems already better energized, if the quick flash of black onto the kid’s hand is any indication. With a meal like this one, the kid should be on his two feet in just a few hours.

The dog, on the ground next to Peter, sniffs what’s on the table. He seems to find the odor pleasant as he stands on his hind legs and put his front paws onto the kid’s knees, demanding a piece of meat. Peter smiles when he notices this and picks a bit of his chicken to give it to the dog, which the puppy gulps down in a second. It’s not enough, however, as he still jumps and tries to get to the plate.

The large man notices this and turns to Steve.

“Don’t we have something for the furry animal?” he asks.

“It’s called a dog, Thor.” Steve answers, and Bucky doesn’t know what to think between ‘ _Oh, so it’s Thor. I should remember his name._ ’ and-

“Dog? What a weird name for something so cute.”

_Who the fuck doesn’t know what a dog is?_

Steve scratches his head.

“I don’t think we have dog food, but we may have meat it can eat.” he says before standing up and going back to the kitchen. Thor doesn’t wait for Steve to completely disappear into the other room before snatching the chicken left from the now unsupervised plate, eating one half in one bite, and then giving the rest to the puppy.

“Here, dog.” he says, putting down the piece next him.

The puppy drops from Peter’s leg, sniffs the meat and- doesn't eat it.

What?

Insted the fluffy ball turns to the kid, like he’s asking for his permission to eat this food given by a stranger. Like he doesn’t trust the stranger to give him unpoisoned food and is asking Peter if the food is good, if he can it eat safely.

He doesn't trust any human but he does trusts Peter, the kid with a dangerous slime-y thing that every creature seems to be able to feel.

_What?_

_Can't this dog feel it or is he just stupid?_ Bucky wonders.

Peter blinks and stares at the dog. He stares a few seconds, but it’s a few seconds enough for Steve to come back from the kitchen, a plate of meat in his hands. The man goes to place it next to the dog only to stop when he sees the chicken already there. He looks up to his own meal, and realizes his meat has disappeared.

“Hey, my chicken!” he cries, and the look on his face is so offended Bucky can't help but laugh.

And Peter does too.

The kid has his hand in front of his face, trying to hide his amusement, but it is easy to decipher why he’s hiding his face, and Steve frowns, looking at him.

 _Shit!_ Bucky thinks. Because if Peter laughed, it means he understood and he is _n’t supposed to understand English!_

So he says the first thing that comes to his mind.

“No need to understand English to know you are complaining about your chicken.” he mocks. Steve looks at him funny, and for a second he thinks he failed.

Then Thor join the kid’s laughter and he breathes again.

He saved the apparences.

_I’m gonna kill this kid when we’re alone._

 

* * *

 

They stay in the lounge the rest of the afternoon, Steve deeming Peter too injured to be able to walk around the Tower for the visit. Bucky still doesn’t let him check the kid’s leg, so he has no idea if he heals correctly or if it’s now infected but they won’t tell him because they don’t trust him. Steve can understand, he wouldn’t like being vulnerable while around strangers too, but he can’t help but worry. Though, with the way the kid seems to be walking easier and easier, he thinks Peter actually has a healing power of some kind. If it’s this, then they may be keeping it from him to hide their strengths, to better surprise him if they try to rebelle.

Really, Steve hope they won’t. He doesn't want to fight Bucky. Plus, alone against the two of them, he doesn’t know if he would win.

Sighing, he lets his gaze slide from the movie to the evil dog on Peter’s knees, letting itself being petted by the kid. When Thor tries to touch it too, it growls and bites his fingers. Steve snorts, thinking there’ll finally be someone other than him to hate this monster, but the God only smiles wider.

"What a firecy beast! It’s good, it means it is strong.”

Peter just lifts an eyebrow before looking at Bucky on his other side. The father translates and the son nods, approving.

Damn it.

"What is this dog’s name?” Thor asks then, and when Bucky translates again, the kid just frowns.

“ _Je ne sais pas._ ” Peter says. “ _Je n’y ai pas réfléchis._ ”

Someone loudly enters to lounge then, snickers stomping onto the ground and complains to who will hear that translating is harder than he thought. The kid jumps, a mix of surprise and fear in his eyes while Bucky stands up and turns to the newcomer.

“Relax, it’s just me.” Tony says.

The engineer goes behind the bar and grabs a glass and a bottle of Whiskey, serving himself a drink and completely ignoring them.

Bucky and Peter both look at him with suspicion, before calming down. Bucky sits back down, but Steve doesn’t miss the way he keeps an eye on Tony.

They all go back to the movie, watching explosions and stupid plot twists, until they're interupted, when the male protagonist abandons the city to save his love interest, by J.A.R.V.I.S. who speaks up.

“Sir.” he says. “The woman is awake.”

Steve turns to Tony at the bar, stilled in the motion of opening the bottle for another drink.

“Finally.” the engineer smirks. He stands up, leaving everything on the bar. “Let’s interrogate her. Jarvis, warn Natasha. We don’t need her right now but if the woman doesn’t speak we will. I don’t want to have to wait for her to come back to the Tower to get our informations.”

“Yes, sir.” J.A.R.V.I.S. answers.

Steve snorts. “A little bit of patience won't kill you, you know?” he says.

Tony just rolls his eyes.

“The world is moving fast, Cap’, and so am I.” he explains before walking towards the door. Steve sighs- what kind of explanation was that?

“I want to come.” Bucky suddenly says, standing up from the couch and facing Tony who is now close to the door.

The engineer considers him.

“You sure?” he asks.

Bucky nods.

“She’s been after us for as long as I can remember.” he states. He looks down at his son, still on the couch next to him. The kid watches him with attention, eyebrows frowned, probably trying to understand what his father is saying. “And Peter grew up with this.”

Silence falls. Peter tenses and turns his away from them, giving his focus to the puppy on his lap instead. Bucky keeps his eyes onto Tony, refusing to look away, showing his determination. Thor seems angered, and Steve can understand why.

He knew HYDRA were after Bucky and his son nearly as soon as he discovered his best friend was still alive. He doesn't know the details, but he does know they had to hide from the organisation. Meaning, they had to stay on the move. Bucky’s last sentence just gave Steve the confirmation of what he suspected: Peter grew up running, he never had a normal life. Going to school and making friends? He never could.

And Bucky? He had to protect a kid. All this started years ago, who knows how old was Peter when they started to hide? Running from HYDRA is far from simple, and at the same time, Bucky was raising his kid, teaching him how to fight and how to survive.

And during this time, where was Steve?

With the Avengers. The only group of people really able to protect and help them.

And what did he do?

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Guilts swells up in his chest and he clenches his fists, squeezing until his knuckles are white.

Bucky continues.

“I want to know why she’s after us and hear what she has to say.” he says.

Tony looks at him a few seconds more, then he shrugs.

“Alright. As long as you don't kill her, I guess.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRANSLATIONS:
> 
> “Je ne sais pas.”  
> "I don't know."
> 
> “Je n’y ai pas réfléchis.”  
> "I didn't think about it."


End file.
